The Music of the Mist
by ilovewarriorcats123
Summary: Every she-cat has her secrets, whether it's forbidden love or the death of a kit. But secrets don't always stay safe… / Meet Goldenpaw, Bluepaw, Silverpaw, Leopardpaw, and Sassafraspaw, five apprentices who strive to uncover the truth. / This is NOT one of those boring mystery stories. / Complete!
1. Prolouge: The Truth About Sandfur

**Hello, everyone! This is my first fanfic. I am so excited!**

 **Before we start, I'd like to point out a few things:**

 **\- I changed the rating. Previously, I rated it as 'M'. Rape is mentioned (and it does happen) in this story, but since there is no sexual contact at all, I changed the rating. If you do not like rape, then don't read this. Please.**

 **\- Credit goes to String of Pearly. I got the idea from her awesome fanfic, _The Sound of Snow_. Check it out - I promise it's good!**

 **On with the story!**

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PROLOUGE: THE TRUTH ABOUT SANDFUR

 _It was a still, quiet night, and the air was unseasonably warm for leaf-bare. The full moon reflects on the powdery, white snow, and silver icicles hang from the tree. The lake is frozen and glitters with the light of a thousand stars. All is well._

 _A slender, pale gray she-cat walked through the misty, clouded night, her eyes sparkling with joy. Her niece has just been weaned from her mother's belly, and it wouldn't be too long before she became an apprentice._

 _The trees became less and less as she reached WindClan's territory. Smiling, she calmly walks through the snow, her eyes closed. It was such a beautiful night. As far as she is concerned, the world is perfect. What can possibly go wrong?_

 _"Hello, Willowbranch," she hears a low drawl. Willowbranch's eyes shoot open, and she blinks in alarm. "Who said that?"_

 _"Me," the voice says, and Willowbranch stares at the tom in front of her. A muscular, handsome, sand-colored tom stands in front of her, his glorious amber eyes shining._

 _"Oh, hi Sandfur," Willowbranch says, her fur beginning to lie flat. There is no need to be scared. Sandfur is her sister's mate's brother, and ever since Darkshadow and Purpleflower had become mates two years ago, she has seen a lot of him. Sandfur is one of the most popular warriors in RiverClan, with his uncanny ability to make others laugh. He was even popular in the other Clans. "Enjoying the night?"_

 _"I am enjoying the night," he says, his deep golden gaze boring into her own green eyes. "And I know something that will make this night better."_

 _Willowbranch frowns. Something is not right, she can sense it. Suddenly, she feels her blood run cold as Sandfur lets out a high, loud cackle, one that doesn't fit him. "What's going on? Why are you acting like this?"_

 _"I'll tell you what's going on," he smirked, his grin becoming wider and horribly twisted. "You're going to have my kits."_

 _It took a while for Willowbranch to comprehend this information. Had she just heard right? But why? Why was he doing this?_

 _"But I'm a_ medicine cat _!" Willowbranch screams, her green eyes stretching wide with horror. Her face is now pale with terror. Taking a deep breath, she forces herself to stay calm. "You can't do this! Why do you want kits anyways?"_

 _"This is just practice," Sandfur replied. "I want to try it on you first. By the time I get to my actual target, I'll be a master at this." He grinned._

 _"But why me?" Willowbranch asks, feeling really sorry for the poor cat that was his 'actual target'._

 _"You're a medicine cat," he replies. "Medicine cats don't have warrior training and they can't fight back. So you're the perfect cat to try it on!" The look in his eyes say that he would enjoy hurting Willowbranch._

 _Willowbranch is ready to fight him, but suddenly, he tackles her. She stands no chance against his powerful legs and huge claws. She lays in the snow, defenseless and scared._

 _"Ouch," she groans as she feels a sickening pain in her back. She tries to get up, but stops as she sees Sandfur's hungry gaze forge its way into her. It chills her more than the snow ever can._

 _"Say goodbye to your happiness," he whispers._

 _And that was the moment he struck._

* * *

 _While all of this is happening, a she-cat is sneaking out of camp. She wants to explore the territory. Even though she wasn't allowed to go, she still thought that it would be fun._

 _She walks happily near the lake, and sighs. The lake is a beautiful, sparkling, midnight-blue shade, and the stars are reflecting on its surface. It is a huge sheet of ice, and she can almost see to the other side. It is a beautiful sight._

 _Then she freezes as she heard a strangled cry. "Is that an intruder?" the she-cat thinks. "I'd better go and see."_

 _The faster she walks, the more determined she is. She_ has _to find this cat. It is her duty._

 _She suddenly sees a bleeding she-cat lying unconscious, and bends down to see who it is. "Willowbranch?" she breathes. "Oh no! What happened?" Suddenly this adventure doesn't seem like such fun anymore._

 _She stops and stares as she sees Sandfur mercilessly clawing at the medicine cat. "Now that you're no longer needed, I'll kill you! That way you can't tell the Clans!"_

 _The she-cat stares. Never has she seen such ruthlessness. But - why? Sandfur was so loyal! He wouldn't really hurt Willowbranch, would he?_

 _But the look on his face told her otherwise._

 _This was not the well-respected RiverClan warrior. This was not the cat with the uncanny ability to make others laugh._

 _This was not her Sandfur._

 _"Stop! Why are you fighting?" the she-cat screams. Sandfur freezes and stares at her._

 _"It's what warriors do for fun," Sandfur replied, but she can tell that he is lying. "I'm telling Midnightstar about this!" she screams._

 _Sandfur glares at her. "No you're not," he growls through clenched teeth. "You're not going back to camp after_ this _."_

 _"Huh?" the she-cat asked, confused. Why? Suddenly she realizes what he means, and chills run down her spine. "Oh StarClan!" She turns to run, but he grabs her and throws her down into the snow, ignoring her piteous screams._

 _"You really think that I'm going to let you live after what you're witnessed?" he asks. "Think again!"_

 _"No!" she screams, but he has an iron grip on her and forces something down her throat. It was probably his claw. Then, dizzy, she watched as he runs away as fast as he can, away from the scene._

 _Suddenly, she hears Willowbranch getting to her paws. "What's all this?" the medicine cat demands. "What are you doing out here by yourself?"_

 _The she-cat lets out a low groan, her blue eyes filled with distress. She suddenly felt a cough rising up in her, an unbearable pain, which was probably because Sandfur has clawed her in her throat. Willowbranch's eyes suddenly light up in horror. "We've got to get you to camp," she meows briskly, reaching over to carry the she-cat on her back._

 _That was the last thing she remembered._

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 **Yay, first chapter. What did you think? If you have any questions, please feel free to PM/review.**

 **Please Review!**


	2. Allegiances 1

**ALLIGIANCES 1:**

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RIVERCLAN

LEADER:

MIDNIGHTSTAR: black-and-white she-cat with dark blue eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, LEOPARDPAW_

DEPUTY:

FEATHERFUR: light golden-brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes.

MEDICINE CAT:

WILLOWBRANCH: slender, pale gray tabby she-cat with green eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, BLUEPAW_

WARRIORS:

SANDFUR: cream-colored tom with green eyes.

GRAYPELT: gray tom with brown eyes.

MUDDYCLAW: brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

DARKSHADOW: dark gray-and-black tabby tom with amber eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, GOLDENPAW_

STONETOOTH: dark gray tom with green eyes.

PURPLEFLOWER: albino, white she-cat with rare purple eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, SASSAFRASPAW_

LIGHTFOOT: white tom with amber eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, SILVERPAW_

SNAKESCALE: brown-and-cream tom with brown eyes.

VOLEWHISKER: light gray tom with green eyes.

DUSTYFUR: light brown tom with amber eyes.

RAINCLOUD: fluffy, dark gray she-cat with amber eyes.

FLAMINGFUR: dark ginger tabby tom with green eyes.

APPRENTICES:

GOLDENPAW: handsome golden-brown tabby tom with brilliant, blind, sun-colored amber eyes. Son of Purpleflower and Darkshadow, and Bluepaw's older brother. He is a fierce, tough apprentice who desperately wants to prove himself as a great warrior, even though he can't see. Aged 12 moons.

BLUEPAW: handsome, pale, blue-gray tom with a white underbelly, paws, and tail-tip, and bright blue eyes. Son of Darkshadow and Purpleflower, and Goldenpaw's younger brother. He is a calm, kind, and hardworking apprentice, but can be a bit insensitive. Aged 12 moons.

SILVERPAW: small, beautiful black she-cat she-cat with a white chest, tail-tip, and paws, silver and gray spots on her pelt, and huge, wide, ice blue eyes. Daughter of Raincloud and Flamingfur, and Leopardpaw's older sister. Very mischievous and adventurous, with a sharp tongue made for sarcastic remarks, but she is a good cat at heart and has a sense of humor. Aged 10 moons.

LEOPARDPAW: pretty, dappled, pale golden she-cat with leaf-green eyes. Daughter of Raincloud and Flamingfur, and Silverpaw's younger sister. Eager, brave, and fiercely loyal to her Clan. Aged 10 moons.

SASSAFRASPAW: unique gray she-cat with irregular dark gray patches, white tail-tip, and deep, dazzling blue eyes. She was orphaned when she was five moons old, but RiverClan took her in as one of them. She is shy and doesn't talk much. Aged 9 moons.

ELDERS:

DAWNSKY: cream-furred she-cat with amber eyes, oldest cat in Clan.

DUSKSKY: dark ginger tom with amber eyes, oldest tom in the Clan.

WINDCLAN

LEADER:

FLOWERSTAR: glossy brown she-cat with amber eyes.

DEPUTY:

WHITETAIL: white tom with blue eyes.

MEDICINE CAT:

MAPLELEAF: brown-and-white tabby she-cat with brown eyes.

WARRIORS:

ORANGEFOOT: ginger tom with amber eyes.

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THUNDERCLAN

LEADER:

FOXSTAR: reddish-brown tom with green eyes.

DEPUTY:

OLIVEPELT: brown she-cat with green eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, FERNPAW_

MEDICINE CAT:

OAKLEAF: brown tom with green eyes.

APPRENTICE:

WILDPAW: black-and-white tom with orange-amber eyes.

* * *

SHADOWCLAN

LEADER:

THORNSTAR: dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

DEPUTY:

MOLEFOOT: golden-brown tom with green eyes.

MEDICINE CAT:

PINEFUR: dark gray tom with amber eyes.


	3. Chapter 1: In Trouble - Again

**First actual chapter. I'm warning you though, it might be a little boring.**

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CHAPTER 1: IN TROUBLE – AGAIN

 _Fourteen moons later_

Silverpaw's POV

"This is the fourth time this moon I caught you sneaking into WindClan territory!"

I groaned. I had failed. I was supposed to be the master! But now I was caught and in trouble.

Again.

Midnightstar's eyes were on fire. This was never a good sign. Lightfoot, her mate and my mentor, was standing more calmly and composed, but his cold eyes still glanced at me with disapproval.

"What were you thinking, going off there by yourself?" Lightfoot scolded. "You know we haven't been on good terms lately!"

Midnightstar silenced him with the flick of a tail. "I know she's your apprentice, but I'll take care of this.

Also not a good sign. Nothing makes Midnightstar angrier than having to deal with rule-breaking apprentices. She has always strictly followed the warrior code, and hates it when other cats don't do the same.

"You have ABSOLUTELY no respect for the warrior code!" Midnightstar snarled. "Why did you sneak into WindClan territory? _Again_?"

"I'm really sorry and I'll never do it again," I meowed, trying to sound as pitiful as possible. I put on my cute, innocent smile, and widened my eyes in a way that no cat could resist. My "innocent" look and my small size have often gotten me out of trouble. I silently prayed that it would get me out of trouble yet again.

All it earned me was a clawing behind the ears.

"Don't play cute with me!" Midnightstar roared. "I have had ENOUGH! You need to stop sneaking out in the middle of the night! It is not only against the rules for apprentices to leave camp at night _and_ against the warrior code to go to another Clan's territory, it is also a safety hazard!"

"So would you rather that I snuck out during the day?" I asked extremely rudely, smiling the whole time.

Midnightstar looked as if she wanted to strangle me. In fact, I think she might have if Lightfoot hadn't have stepped in.

"Can I administer punishment, because she's my apprentice?" he asked.

"Go ahead," said Midnightstar curtly with a flick of her tail.

I sighed in relief. _No_ cat gave worse punishments than Midnightstar.

"You are confined to the camp for a moon," said Lightfoot. "Also, you can clean out the elders' den, leaders' den, and nursery every three day-cycle **(they have a cycle for cleaning out those dens. For example, first Leopardpaw will do it, then after three days Bluepaw, three days Silverpaw, and so on. Because there are five apprentices in RiverClan, they only have to go back to doing it every 15 days. But now poor Silverpaw has to do it every three days!)**. And within this moon, you don't get to eat until everyone else has eaten. _And_ you can sort out herbs in the medicine den." Midnightstar looked at Lightfoot in approval.

"But I'm not a medicine cat apprentice!" I protested. "Ask Bluepaw to do it. Not me!"

"I don't care," Lightfoot replied. "In fact, you can start now."

" _Now_?" I fought back a yawn. "I'm so tired. I stayed up all night" –

– "You should have thought of that before sneaking out in the middle of the night," replied Midnightstar. "Now go."

I sighed and walked off to the medicine den. I told Willowbranch what happened, and she showed me how to sort out the herbs.

Bluepaw came in at that moment. "Hey Willowbranch! What will we do today" – his meow was cut short as he stared at me. Then his whiskers twitched in amusement. "Let me guess," he meowed. "You got caught going to the Moonpool."

"You should be talking," I retorted. "Remember last time when you scared Sassafraspaw when she was a kit? I thought that Purpleflower was going to claw your ears off!"

Willowbranch snorted in amusement.

As Bluepaw and I continued sorting out herbs, I felt more and more tired. All I wanted to do was to sleep.

But then I heard a yowl that shook me fully awake.

"Darkshadow and Sandfur are dead!"


	4. Chapter 2: The Burial

**Please review I NEED REVIEWS PEOPLE! I LOVE REVIEWS!**

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CHAPTER 2: THE BURIAL

Leopardpaw's POV

… "They will be honored forever."

We were all sitting in a circle, around the dead bodies of Sandfur and Darkshadow. I looked at Silverpaw, my sister, nervously. She smiled back, but I could tell that it was a fake smile. If Silverpaw wasn't in her goofy, joking mood, then obviously something was _very_ wrong.

We had found out the causes of death for Darkshadow and Sandfur's deaths. Sandfur has been crushed in a rockslide, and Darkshadow had drowned in the lake. I winced, just thinking about it.

Darkshadow's mate, Purpleflower, was, of course, a wreck. Moons ago, she had lost her only daughter, Waterkit. Her parents had both died in a war with ShadowClan just recently, and now, her mate was gone. The only thing she had left was her sister, Willowbranch, and her two sons, Goldenpaw and Bluepaw.

Goldenpaw looked around, his sightless amber eyes gazing at the body of his uncle and father. Silverpaw, his best friend, gave Goldenpaw a comforting lick, but he shied away and glared at her. I could tell that he was putting on a bold face, but in reality it was all he could do to blink back the tears. Darkshadow meant the world to him. He was not only his father, but also his mentor. Darkshadow had been the only cat who had believed that Goldenpaw's lack of sight didn't matter, and thanks to him, Goldenpaw's almost a warrior now. And now, Darkshadow didn't even get to live to see his son become a warrior.

Silverpaw gave me an anguished look, and I gazed steadily at her, a look that meant, _Don't waste your time._ Goldenpaw has always been like this. He has always been proud and defiant, the haughtiest apprentice ever. He has always felt the urge to prove himself, and that includes not showing weaknesses, such as crying and failure. He was a lot like Darkshadow, in fact.

Bluepaw, however, is the polar opposite of his brother. Instead of putting on a bold face, he was crying his eyes out into his mother's shoulder. Bluepaw is never one to keep feelings bottled up inside of him. Goldenpaw is so grim and determined, but Bluepaw makes everyone smile even through the darkest times. He's one of the most popular apprentices, and I can understand why.

Our medicine cat, Willowbranch, who was Bluepaw's mentor, called Bluepaw to her side. I thought I heard her murmur, "You can grieve later. But not when there's work to be done." Bluepaw nodded and shakily padded over to her, gulping heavy breaths from the air as he walked. Willowbranch gave him a soothing lick on the head and proceeded with the ceremony.

"We are here to honor two fallen warriors."

The air was still, thick with hesitation. I closed my eyes, feeling the pain erupt in my chest. Why did Sandfur and Darkshadow have to go?

"Darkshadow was an amazing warrior. He had many losses, such as the loss of his mother and his only daughter." I might have just imagined it, but as she said the word _daughter_ , every single cat looked up and gave her a sharp, accusing glance. But the next moment, everything returned back to normal. I blinked. What was up with that?

"But he always pushed through. He never stopped serving his Clan. And neither did Sandfur. When they found out that they were half-Clan, there was a time when the Clan stopped trusting them. But they proved themselves to be loyal and determined warriors, and we couldn't have asked for more."

Now I knew that I definitely wasn't imagining that something was clearly wrong. Willowbranch's words were edged with a bitter tang, as if she were speaking unforgivable lies. For a second, I could see fury redden her face.

But those weren't lies. Sandfur and Darkshadow have always been loyal warriors – or have they? Or did Willowbranch know something about them that we didn't?

I shuddered. Something was wrong, and I was determined to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

Sassafraspaw's POV

As part of the custom, the medicine cats, Willowbranch and Bluepaw, laid rose petals on Sandfur and Darkshadow's heads. The crowd broke into quiet yowls of applause.

Then, Willowbranch, Purpleflower, Goldenpaw, Bluepaw, and the elders scraped dirt over the two bodies. That was the end of the ceremony. I heard a few cats murmur and try to get a last glimpse of the two dead cats before the burial was complete.

Midnightstar climbed the Lakeledge. "Who all will stand vigil?"

"I will," said Purpleflower.

"So will I," added Goldenpaw.

"If you are, so am I," Bluepaw said to his brother.

"We're sitting vigil too," added Leopardpaw and Silverpaw, who had admired Darkshadow just like every single apprentice.

Now Midnightstar was looking at me, being that I was the only apprentice not sitting vigil. Without hesitation I nodded.

"And Flamingfur, you will now be Goldenpaw's mentor," said Midnightstar. "Pass on your fierceness and enthusiasm."

The meeting was over. Now I saw Purpleflower standing with her sons, Bluepaw and Goldenpaw. Flamingfur and Raincloud were comforting Leopardpaw and Silverpaw, their daughters.

I felt a twinge of envy. _They_ all had families and loved ones. I didn't. In fact, I wasn't even Clanborn. I had been a young, five-moon old loner, abandoned by my mother at the shores of the lake. Midnightstar had found me and taken me in. Sure I got cared for and everything. But one thing that I had missed out on was having a loving mother.

I sighed, looking up at the sky in sorrow and pain.

 _StarClan, how could you let this happen?_

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 **For those of you thinking about Sassafraspaw's unusual name, she is named after a tree, a sassafras tree.**

 **QOTD:** **How significant do you think Willowbranch will be?**


	5. Chapter 3: The Loss of Waterkit

**Hey everyone, how are ya doing? ... Still no reviews? Come on, you don't have to be a member of FanFiction to review! You can just click the "Review" button. No one will be able to track your location or anything. Trust me.**

 **Previously on TMotM...**

 **"I shuddered. Something was wrong, and I was determined to get to the bottom of this."**

 **So, now we come to a crucially important part of the story! The last two chapters were boring and very unimportant. But this one will be interesting, I promise.**

 **Sooo, anyways, here it is! Um... enjoy?**

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CHAPTER 3: THE LOSS OF WATERKIT

Willowbranch's POV

I sat through the vigil, thinking about Sandfur and Darkshadow.

I have never told any cat, not even my sister, what Sandfur did to me that day. The look of hatred on his face, the twisted snarl. I shuddered just thinking about it. It had happened over a year ago, but I still couldn't forget.

And as for Darkshadow…

I should be grateful that he was gone. He was a menace and hated me. To be honest, he was one cat that I was glad to see the back of.

Then why did I feel so guilty?

I knew the answer: _Waterkit_. She was the daughter of Purpleflower and Darkshadow, who had died two moons before her apprenticeship. She was a little older than Goldenpaw and Bluepaw, and would be made a warrior by now.

But she didn't survive.

And it was all my fault.

 _Flashback_

 _It was dawn. Willowbranch had found Waterkit outside, lying in the cold. Immediately she had rushed to carry her to the medicine den. Waterkit's parents had been alerted, and they came immediately._

 _"_ _Get me some catmint," she hissed to Darkshadow, Waterkit's father. Darkshadow nodded and ran for the entrance._

 _"_ _It's just whitecough," Willowbranch assured Purpleflower, who was Waterkit's mother and Willowbranch's sister. "It's not much. She's live."_

 _"_ _Why is she wheezing like that?" Purpleflower cried._

 _Willowbranch looked down. 'Something is wrong,' she realized. Waterkit was too sick for this to be 'just whitecough'. Then she gasped as it hit her – Waterkit had swallowed deathberries!_

 _"_ _YARROW!" Willowbranch screamed, and pelted towards the entrance of the den. She picked up the flowers and ran back. Willowbranch gently coaxed the kit to swallow some of the flowers._

 _Waterkit gazed up at her, eyes blank. Then she lay very still._

 _"_ _Swallow, Waterkit!" Darkshadow screamed, but then stopped as he saw that his daughter was already dead._

 _"_ _What happened?" wailed Purpleflower. "I thought it was only whitecough!"_

 _"_ _N-no," stammered Willowbranch. "I was wrong. It – it was deathberries."_

 _"_ _Oh, StarClan," Purpleflower sobbed, burying her nose into Waterkit's fur._

 _Darkshadow glared at Willowbranch. "This is all your fault. You killed Waterkit! You_ murdered _her!"_

 _"_ _No!" screamed Willowbranch. "I swear to StarClan, I_ didn't _, I would have done everything I could to save her"… But Darkshadow stormed out of the den._

 _"_ _Stay away from my mate from now on!" he called over his shoulder._

 _End of Flashback_

I felt so miserable remembering. It had been over a year ago, but no wonder Darkshadow hated me.

But I felt so miserable that I decided I should visit the Moonpool. Maybe I could see Waterkit there.

I got up and left, telling Midnightstar where I was going before I vanished.

Soon I reached the Moonpool and lay down beside it. The air was so cold, but the water was warm. I touched my nose to the surface and everything disappeared.

 _The air was misty, warm, and welcoming. I opened my eyes to see a peaceful-looking scene. A stream was lazily flowing and the area was as open as the moor._

 _Waterkit was standing before me, beaming. "I missed you."_

 _I smiled back, though half-heartedly. Her eyes changed, and she could tell that something was up._

 _"_ _What's the matter?" she asked, concerned._

 _"_ _It's Darkshadow," I muttered. "Has he forgiven me?"_

 _Waterkit frowned. "No. In fact, I'd advise you to stay away from him every time you visit the Moonpool."_

 _"_ _Why?" I asked curiously._

 _"_ _I think he's planning something," replied Waterkit, looking fearful. "He's plotting revenge against you."_

 _"_ _How?" I gasped. Waterkit was about to answer, but suddenly I heard a voice._

 _"_ _Waterkit! There you are!" Darkshadow ran and embraced her tightly. "Waterkit, you'd better go. You really shouldn't be talking to your killer."_

 _"_ _But she didn't"… Waterkit began, but Darkshadow held her back._

 _"_ _I'll handle this," he meowed._

 _Waterkit reluctantly walked away, leaving me to face Darkshadow._

 _"_ _Hi," I meowed evenly, forcing a meek smile on my lips. Suddenly the air wasn't so peaceful anymore. It seemed… threatening. And ominous._

 _I shuddered. Was this a warning from Darkshadow? A threat? But what could he do to me? For StarClan's sake he was_ dead _!_

 _"_ _Don't even think about hurting her," he hissed._

 _"_ _How can I hurt her? She's safe with StarClan!"_

 _"_ _Listen," he meowed, bringing his voice down to a whisper. "You will face my wrath. I was never able to harm you in life, but I will in death."_

 _"_ _You can't harm me!" I protested. "You can't touch me. You won't be able to."_

 _"_ _I have my ways," he meowed, bringing an evil smile to his lips. "I now know about how you had kits illegally."_

 _"_ _That wasn't my fault!" I shouted. "It's your brother's! I didn't_ ask _for kits!"_

 _"_ _And it's your fault that he's now in the Dark Forest!" Darkshadow shouted. "Goodbye, Willowbranch."_

 _I shuddered as the world around me went dark. Who knew what Darkshadow could do to me now?_

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 **OOH! What's he gonna do? Tell me your ideas. Come on now, don't be shy. Go down and write your answer. Then click the review button. _Click it_. I won't bite - well, not _too_ harshly anyways.**

 **AOTD:** **Willowbranch will be very important. So will her sister, I can promise. You will see Purpleflower in the next chapter.**


	6. Chapter 4: Forbidden Mates

CHAPTER 4: FORBIDDEN MATES

Purpleflower's POV

The night after we buried Darkshadow and Sandfur, I left the camp for the millionth time. I went to the island and waited patiently for my mate to come.

"Purpleflower," I heard a cat say. My mate, Whitetail, the deputy of WindClan, was walking on the tree-bridge to the island.

"Whitetail." I smiled at him. He didn't smile back.

This is how we have been meeting. Every four days we'd leave camp at night to meet.

"What's wrong?" I asked, frowning. I could sense it.

"All right, I'll get to the point," he mutters, looking at his paws. Then he looks at me, but still refuses to look at me in the eyes. "We should stop seeing each other."

" _What_?" I sprang to my paws. My loyal, trusting mate – how could he do this to me?

"I'm sorry Purpleflower," he meowed.

"Look, I know that I betrayed Darkshadow," I meowed. "But – but you" –

I was shocked by the anger in Whitetail's eyes. "Yes, you absolutely did betray Darkshadow! You told him that you were _his_ mate, when in reality your heart never belonged to him! You just led him on and played with his heart! And he _died_ because of it!"

"But we agreed," I meowed, stunned. "The night Darkshadow asked me to be his mate, I was already in love with you. I couldn't reject him or he'd be hurt, so I pretended to love him. He was happy, and you were happy, so I thought it was a win-win situation. And then when he saw us together that day, I had to kill him, because then he would tell Midnightstar. You know how strict Midnightstar is about these things. She'd probably exile or even kill me." I shuddered at the thought. "But the main reason why is because"… Suddenly, I couldn't go on. Whitetail was glaring at me, an expression that said to stop.

"And what good did that do?" Whitetail retorted. "Look, I'm sorry that I screamed at you, but we can't go on like this."

"But… you know that I"… This couldn't be happening.

"I'll see at the Gathering," he meowed. And with that, he stalked off.

I stared after him. Then suddenly and desperately, I dove into the water. Swimming to shore, I ran back to RiverClan territory, stopping only to lick my fur dry. I stopped in the camp.

Running to my nest, I slammed face-down into it, weeping. _Whitetail's gone._

That was the last thing I thought before I fell into darkness.

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 **Purpleflower is very important, so keep an eye on her. She's eeeeeeevil.**

 **Next up on TMotM...**

 **"I sent Bluepaw to WindClan to ask for catmint. I told him to take an apprentice escort, so he went with Sassafraspaw. The two said that they'd be back by late climbing-sun. It's sunhigh now and they still aren't back."**

 **QOTD:** **Who are your favorite and least favorite characters in the _Warriors_ series? Please write a spoiler warning in your review.**


	7. Chapter 5: Border Patrol

**This is a really short and stupid chapter.**

* * *

CHAPTER 5: BORDER PATROL

Leopardpaw's POV

It had been a few days since Darkshadow died. Now I was called for a border patrol along with my mentor, Midnightstar.

"We're going to mark the WindClan border," she said. "And remember; don't stray over the border by mistake. We haven't been on good terms with them, thanks to Silverpaw."

I followed my mentor.

Midnightstar lead the patrol. I was going with Flamingfur, Stonetooth, and Goldenpaw. Goldenpaw's new mentor was Flamingfur.

As we walked by, I saw a WindClan patrol marking their borders next to ours.

"One of your apprentices came on our territory again," growled the patrol leader.

"You mean Silverpaw?" asked Midnightstar. "She's been punished. We'll do our best to make sure she doesn't cross again."

"Good," the patrol leader muttered. He took his patrol in the opposite direction.

I walked silently, the leaves crunching under my paws. It was nearing the end of leaf-fall. Snow was starting to fall.

We soon made it back to the camp. Then Willowbranch ran to Midnightstar. "Thank StarClan you're here!" she gasped.

"What happened?" asked Midnightstar, flattening her ears.

"I sent Bluepaw to WindClan to ask for catmint," said Willowbranch. "I told him to take an apprentice escort, so he went with Sassafraspaw. The two said that they'd be back by late climbing-sun. It's sunhigh now and they still aren't back."

* * *

 **Not one of the most interesting chapters, but I kept a cliffy for you to sit and wonder about. Huh, it seems like a lot of these chapters are boring.**

 **AOTD:** **Crookedstar is my absolute favorite. Then Jayfeather comes second, and Hollyleaf in third. And my least favorite are: in third place, Crowfeather, second place, Thistleclaw, and first place, Ashfur.**

 **QOTD:** **Where do you think Bluepaw and Sassafraspaw disappeared?**


	8. Chapter 6: Taken by WindClan

**I have a Follow and a Fav! While I truly appreciate that, nothing makes me happier than REVIEWS! Please! Even if it's only a sentence long!**

 **Previously on TMotM...**

 **"I sent Bluepaw to WindClan to ask for catmint. I told him to take an apprentice escort, so he went with Sassafraspaw. The two said that they'd be back by late climbing-sun. It's sunhigh now and they still aren't back."**

* * *

CHAPTER 6: TAKEN BY WINDCLAN

 _Earlier that day_

Bluepaw's POV

"Can you run over to WindClan and get some catmint from Mapleleaf?" Willowbranch asked me. "We're running low, and we really need some. Take an apprentice or warrior escort with you."

"Can I take Sassafraspaw?" I asked at once. "Sure," replied Willowbranch. "Her kits won't come for at least two moons." **(Oops I forgot to mention that Sassafraspaw was having kits)** I left the medicine den and took my friend with me. "Be back by late climbing-sun," Willowbranch called. "We share borders with them, so it shouldn't take too long."

The two of us walked. "How's life going?" I asked Sassafraspaw. She didn't answer. "Sassafraspaw?" This was how she had been ever since Sandfur died – not talking, not even when some cat asked her a question. Sassafraspaw now seemed like a different cat. She'd always been quiet, but not _silent_. I couldn't imagine what happened to put her in this grieving state. Sure, Sandfur's death had been sad, but even Darkshadow had gotten over it faster than Sassafraspaw.

I couldn't bear to see her this way. She was my friend, and I never wanted a friend to be unhappy.

"You're my friend, you know," I meowed as gently as possible. "You can talk to me." Sassafraspaw lifted her head up to stare into my eyes.

"Is it because of the kits?" I asked. The whole Clan knew about Sassafraspaw's kits now. There were shocked murmurs of disapproval, and everyone was wondering who the father was. I was wondering if that was what made her so upset.

But she had been upset a few days _before_ she found out about the kits. Something was not right. And whatever it was, I needed to know.

Slowly, steadily, Sassafraspaw lifted her head to stare defiantly at me. I knew what that look meant: "leave me alone. You're way too pushy."

I knew she wasn't going to talk to me. "Well if you change your mind I'm always here."

We walked to the WindClan border and crossed. Since the lake area was neutral territory, we walked there. I wanted to walk in as little of WindClan territory as possible. Even though I was a medicine cat apprentice and could walk wherever I wanted, Sassafraspaw couldn't. And meeting a WindClan patrol was the last thing she needed.

I saw Mapleleaf, the WindClan medicine cat, digging out herbs nearby. "Hey Mapleleaf!" I yowled. The friendly medicine cat looked over her shoulder. "Hi Bluepaw," she said. "What brings you here?"

"We're running low on catmint," I said. "Can you spare us any?"

"I think so," she meowed. "Follow me." I followed the medicine cat with Sassafraspaw at my tail.

"I see you have a pretty-looking apprentice coming with you," said Mapleleaf. "What's your name?" she asked Sassafraspaw.

Predictably, Sassafraspaw said nothing.

"Her name is Sassafraspaw, and she doesn't like talking much," I explained to a surprised Mapleleaf.

"I see," meowed Mapleleaf. "That's a very pretty name. So how is it going with RiverClan?"

"Darkshadow died," I meowed sadly.

Mapleleaf bowed her head. "He was a brave warrior, and he will be honored by StarClan," she said.

We reached the camp and I saw Flowerstar, the leader of WindClan. She was very pretty, with brown fur and bright amber eyes.

"Hello, Bluepaw," purred Flowerstar, her annoyingly sweet voice washing over my ears. She had a bright smile on – great StarClan, did she _ever_ stop smiling?

"Hello, Flowerstar," I meowed, dipping my head respectfully. "I am here for catmint. Mapleleaf will provide me with some."

"I see," Flowerstar meowed. "And why is this apprentice with you?"

"She is here to escort me," I replied. "She means no harm."

"Very well," replied Flowerstar with a flick of her tail. I followed Mapleleaf into her den. She carried some catmint in her jaws and passed it over to me.

"Thank you," I meowed, dipping my head. "You're welcome," she meowed, giving me a sheet of cobwebs to wrap my catmint in and a large leaf to drag the herbs on. "This will help you carry them."

I thanked her again and left. But I didn't pass two steps of the medicine den before Sassafraspaw and I were surrounded.

"Capture them," ordered Flowerstar.

I was furious. "You can't keep me," I meowed. "I'm a medicine cat apprentice."

Flowerstar's voice became dangerously soft. "Fine. Spare the medicine cat. You can anyways pass on a message to your Clanmates."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Tell them that your friend here is going to be kept here. If they want her back, they have to come here and give up some territory. If they refuse to give up territory, this apprentice will be dead by sunrise tomorrow."

"But you can't harm her!" I exclaimed. "She's expecting _kits_!"

"Too bad," replied Flowerstar. "Now go before I kill you too."

I bolted to the camp exit, abandoning the catmint. I had to get my Clanmates. Sassafraspaw's life was in danger.

* * *

 **I'm sorry that the whole thing about Sassafraspaw having kits was really random. I don't think I mentioned it before. I meant to, but I was editing the story, so I ended up deleting that part.**

 **AOTD:** **Well, it was answered in the chapter.**


	9. Chapter 7: For the Good of the Clans

**One of the few chapters that are over a thousand words. A longish chapter by my standards. Enjoy!**

* * *

CHAPTER 7: FOR THE GOOD OF THE CLANS

Goldenpaw's POV

Midnightstar said that if Bluepaw and Sassafraspaw didn't come back by sunfall she'd send out a patrol looking for them. We waited anxiously for them to come.

At early sunfall, Bluepaw came rushing back.

"They have Sassafraspaw!" he yowled. "And if we don't give up territory, they'll kill her at dawn!"

"How much territory do they want?" demanded Midnightstar.

"They didn't say," he answered.

Midnightstar didn't even bother calling the summons for a meeting. Every cat had gathered around the Lakeledge anyways.

"We are taking a patrol to WindClan," she meowed. "Graypelt, Stonetooth, Featherfur, Muddyclaw, Snakescale, Purpleflower, Flamingfur, and their apprentices, if they have any. Bluepaw will also come with us to heal if there happens to be a battle."

I was excited. I was going to a mission! I had never been in a battle before.

I darted forwards. Midnightstar looked at me with a frown.

"Be careful," she meowed. "I don't want you getting hurt. And remember, know what your limits are."

I hissed in annoyance. Even though I was the oldest littermate, I had always been the weaker of the two. I was blind, so Midnightstar treated me like a kit. I was going to receive my warrior name soon, for StarClan's sake!

I walked sullenly with my brother, wondering how long it would be before every cat realized that I could still be a good warrior.

* * *

Sassafraspaw's POV

I sat in the medicine den as Mapleleaf fussed over me.

"You'll be all right," she soothed. "I'm sure that Flowerstar meant that as an empty threat." She didn't look as if she believed her own words though.

She was more worried than I was, anyways. I knew that my Clanmates would come for me. Especially Bluepaw. He was very loyal.

 _Should I tell him my secret?_ I wondered. Then I shook my head. He'd hate me forever.

"Hey, what's your name?" jeered a tall WindClan warrior. I ignored him and groomed my fur.

"Looks like you're not much of a talker, huh?" the tom remarked. "Get up!"

I followed him, ignoring Mapleleaf's cry of distress. Above the Tallledge I could see Flowerstar's face in a sneer.

"Stop!"

I turned around and saw Midnightstar's furious face leading a group of cats. I felt relief rush through my fur. They had come for me. I knew they would.

"Give me back my apprentice," Midnightstar glared at Flowerstar. " _Now_."

"Certainly," purred Flowerstar. "And will you, in turn, give me more land?"

The two she-cats negotiated for a while, and finally agreed.

"Come on Sassafraspaw," Midnightstar called. She shot one last glare at Flowerstar and we left.

* * *

Goldenpaw's POV

We reached the camp at late sunfall. Midnightstar climbed the Lakeledge and made an announcement.

"We got Sassafraspaw back, but we had to give up territory," she meowed. "WindClan now owns the horseplace and its surrounding land."

"Why would they want the _horseplace_?" meowed Dawnsky, one of the elders. "It's more trouble than it's worth. There isn't even any prey!"

"I don't know why, and I certainly don't care." Midnightstar looked at me. "And now, I think that it is time for Goldenpaw's warrior ceremony."

My jaw dropped. " _What_?"

"Before he died, Darkshadow said that you were doing well," said Midnightstar, "and I think you deserve it.

"I, Midnightstar, leader of RiverClan call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Goldenpaw, do you promise to honor the warrior code, and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," I replied, excitement sparking my paws.

"Then come up here."

I bounded up to the Lakeledge.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Goldenpaw, from this moment on you shall be known as Goldensun. StarClan honors your bravery and cunning, and we welcome you as a full warrior of RiverClan. Serve us well."

Midnightstar rested a claw on my shoulder and the Clan cheered. "Goldensun! Goldensun!"

I proudly climbed down the Lakeledge.

"Great job," a voice said. I looked up to see Silverpaw and Bluepaw. "Thanks," I purred. "Want to share some trout?"

"Sure," said Bluepaw and Silverpaw, sitting down beside me. It was a fairly large fish, so the three of us could share.

When I say 'large', it actually wasn't very big. It was leaf-bare, so our fish was starting to run out. It was a hard leaf-bare, and I wanted it to end. But the fish was relatively big, compared to what we'd been getting lately.

Midnightstar sent me to have my vigil. "You can drink, but not eat," she meowed. "And no talking. Your mentor will wake you up."

I nodded. It wasn't like I could talk anyways, because I was the only cat sitting vigil.

I sat down, and the rest of the Clans went to sleep.

Suddenly, I scented something. It was a tom. I wanted to run back to my Clan and raise the alarm, but somehow, the scent on the cat was faint, as if it he were a spirit-cat. It also seemed familiar, but I couldn't exactly place it.

"Hello," the tom purred. "Don't you recognize me? I'm Darkshadow."

I leapt up at my previous mentor and my father. "Hi! How is StarClan?"

"Good," he said back. "And I am very proud of you, Goldensun. But I didn't come for pleasure. I came to deliver a prophecy."

I listened as intently as possible.

" _In leaf-bare the blue frost will kill us all_."

"What?" I asked in confusion. What was he talking about?

"Don't you see?" he said. "This is about your brother Bluepaw. He will tear apart the Clans."

"And what you expect me to do about it?" I asked.

Darkshadow closed his eyes. Then he opened them and meowed, "There is only one way. You must kill him."

I leapt to my paws. "Are you crazy? Kill my only brother?"

"I know it's hard," Darkshadow meowed gravely. "Trust me, the council of StarClan had a long meeting about this. But you must. It is the only way."

He looked at me. "I will give you training in your sleep. You will be strong, stronger than you ever dreamed. When the time is right, I will tell you.

"StarClan is counting on you, so you must do it. We see you as a hero. And remember, it is for the good of the Clans."

I was still uncertain. "But why?" I asked.

"Think of it this way," he meowed. "Goldensun, you are blind, and cats think that you are weak. But there is a huge difference between weakness and vulnerability. And once you kill Bluepaw, everyone will admire you. Suddenly your lack of sight won't matter."

This was one thing that I had always wanted. I had always wanted cats to admire me, despite my blindness. I hated it when others fussed over me. And listening to the logic behind his words, I decided that I must do this. My Clan always came before my kin, and I could not betray StarClan. Looking into Darkshadow's amber eyes, I slowly nodded.

"Goodbye," he said. "StarClan go with you."

And with that, he vanished, leaving me with my thoughts.

 _I must do it_ , I decided. _Even if it means killing my own brother, I will. It's for the good of the Clans._

* * *

 **Two confused medicine cats! First Willowbranch and then Bluepaw!**

 **QOTD:** **What trouble do you think that Bluepaw will cause?**


	10. Chapter 8: The Gathering

**Previously on TMotM...**

 **"I must do it. Even if it means killing my own brother, I will. It's for the good of the Clans."**

 **Anyways, continuing on!**

* * *

CHAPTER 8: THE GATHERING

Leopardpaw's POV

I woke up at dawn. I was an early-morning riser, so this wasn't unusual even in leaf-bare. I carefully stepped over the sleeping Sassafraspaw and walked out. Goldensun was just going into the warriors' den, his vigil over.

"Hey Goldensun!" Bluepaw said. "Willowbranch wants me to collect herbs from ShadowClan, and I need a warrior escort. Do you want to come with me?"

"No," snapped Goldensun. "I had a vigil, you know." He turned and walked stiffly into the warriors' den.

I was shocked. What was with Goldensun today? Maybe he was just cranky staying up all night. But that still wasn't an excuse for being so rude to his own brother.

"Can I go?" asked Silverpaw.

"You're confined to the camp," I reminded my sister. "Besides, Willowbranch said _warrior_ escort, not _apprentice_."

"Fine." Silverpaw grumpily looked down at her paws.

I sighed. Sometimes I felt that I was the older littermate, and this was one of those times. Silverpaw just didn't take anything seriously. If she was hardworking like Goldensun or Bluepaw, then she might become a warrior soon. But no. She had to sneak out of camp and act so immature.

"I'll come with you," said Flamingfur, my father. The two toms left the camp.

"Can you put me on a hunting patrol?" I begged Featherfur, our deputy.

"No," she said firmly. "You have to be rested for the Gathering tonight."

"But we need food," I protested. "Leaf-bare is so hard, and the Clans are suffering without food. Look, everyone goes hungry every day. It's been worse ever since we gave up territory to WindClan."

Her gaze softened. "I know you just want to serve your Clan, Leopardpaw. Believe me, I wish that there were more apprentices like you. But you have to rest today and let the Clan provide you with food for a change. You can go hunting tomorrow."

I stomped off to my den. What was the big deal, anyways? I could rest in the afternoon and go hunting now.

For a moment I considered leaving the camp and sneaking out to hunt, but then I decided against it. I wasn't a Silverpaw. Besides, if Midnightstar found out, I wouldn't be allowed to go to the Gathering tonight _or_ hunting tomorrow. It wasn't worth it.

* * *

"Tell me _everything_ ," Silverpaw begged me as I prepared to leave. "I want to know every single detail."

I snorted. "All right Silverpaw, I get it. Just stay out of trouble for once."

"Her staying out of trouble?" snorted Goldensun, who had finally gotten out of his cranky mood. "Are you crazy? She was _born_ for trouble."

"Everyone, let's go!" Midnightstar called. "Everyone that is staying back, carry on with your normal duties!"

I loved Gatherings. It was so much fun to mingle with cats from other Clans. I bounded forwards, excited.

The full moon shone bright in the sky as I walked on the fallen tree that leads to the island. When I reached, I looked around, and met with a few cats from ThunderClan. There was Wildpaw from ThunderClan. I remembered last Gathering, where he and Silverpaw met and seemed to him it off with each other immediately.

"Hey, Leopardpaw," he purred. "Where's Silverpaw?"

"She didn't come," I replied. Wildpaw looked disappointed.

A hiss suddenly sounded in the clearing, telling all of the cats to be quiet. I saw Bluepaw sitting with the medicine cats in the center of the clearing, surrounding a pool of water. Midnightstar climbed the willow, Flowerstar took the maple, and Foxstar climbed the oak **(I know that this isn't how Gatherings are supposed to go but this is just my version of it)**. Their warriors, elders, and warrior apprentices, from RiverClan, WindClan, and ThunderClan, assembled in front of their trees, and the deputies sat at the foot of their Clan's tree.

Wait! Where was ShadowClan?

I looked towards the pine tree that belonged to ShadowClan. Why wasn't Thornstar climbing it? Why wasn't his deputy standing under it? And why wasn't his Clan assembled in front of the tree?

I looked towards the maple, the tree that belonged to WindClan, and I saw that ShadowClan had assembled there. And to my shock, Thornstar was standing with the warriors, and so was his deputy.

Great StarClan, what was going on?

"Can someone explain this?" Foxstar asked.

Flowerstar purred. "Thornstar agreed to give up all of his territory. It now belongs to me. He has agreed to give up the name of ShadowClan. I have given up the name of WindClan as well. My Clan is called FlowerClan. Thornstar gave me sole leadership of FlowerClan, so he is a regular warrior now, by the name of Thornpelt, and his deputy, Molefoot, is also an ordinary warrior. And the last thing that Thornpelt agreed to was to have his nine lives stripped away."

Thornpelt bowed his head in shame and defeat.

"What do you mean, he agreed to have his nine lives _stripped away_?" gasped Featherfur.

"What do you _think_ I mean?" Flowerstar purred evilly.

"You killed him _eight times_?" cried a warrior from ThunderClan. "That's _evil_!"

"There have always been four Clans, not three," added Midnightstar furiously. "And I can't believe that you named your Clan after _yourself_!"

"Does any cat wish to join me?" Flowerstar asked, looking around the clearing. Her voice was now dangerously soft as she looked around the clearing, staring boldly at every cat.

"I will," said Wildpaw slowly. I stared at him.

"Don't Wildpaw!" shouted Foxstar.

"I've always been a loyal ThunderClan apprentice," said Wildpaw, "but my parents both died of starvation. In FlowerClan I would be well-fed. Please let me, Foxstar. My parents wouldn't want me to starve either."

I knew there was nothing that could change Wildpaw's mind. Foxstar nodded, looking defeated.

A few other ThunderClan cats, probably Wildpaw's friends, joined him in FlowerClan.

"Anyone, else?" Flowerstar asked, looking around with her sickly-sweet smile. "Speak up now or never. Come on, don't be shy."

Not a single cat uttered a word.

"Very well," Flowerstar replied, looking furious. "Any cat who doesn't join FlowerClan will be dead by next moon. You'd all better watch your tails."

And with that threat, she jumped down from the maple tree, the rest of her Clan following.

* * *

 **I absolutely adore Flowerstar. She reminds me so much of Umbridge from _Harry Potter_. And Midnightstar is so much like McGonall.**

 **AOTD:** **I can't answer this. If I do, it'll be a major spoiler for the rest of the story.**


	11. Chapter 9: Training

**Hey.**

 **Don't you just absolutely love summer vacation? (that was sarcasm by the way) I'm having fun doing... nothing. I actually prefer school over summer. Sure, there's homework and stuff, but at least something is always going on.**

* * *

CHAPTER 9: TRAINING

Goldensun's POV

When she got home, Midnightstar called a Clan meeting. She explained to the cats that stayed at camp what happened at the Gathering. Cries of outrage filled the Clan.

"What!" "Flowerstar can't do that!" "We can't let her take us!"

"I have new rules," she said. "Apprentices and elders are not permitted to leave the camp without a warrior escort. No cat is allowed to leave the camp by themselves, not even a warrior. Warriors, medicine cats, and elders are not permitted to leave the camp at night anymore. And no cat can go anywhere near the FlowerClan border unless they're on border patrol."

"Not even medicine cats?" Bluepaw meowed. "Our code states that we can go anywhere in Clan territory."

"Especially not medicine cats," replied Midnightstar. "You don't have as thorough battle training as us warriors. I highly doubt that Flowerstar will follow the warrior code.

"And also, Purpleflower is now retiring to the nursery because she is expecting kits. So, another cat will have to take up Sassafraspaw's training. Goldensun, I know you are a little young, but Sassafraspaw will be your first apprentice. Pass on your qualities of cleverness and courage."

I lifted my head proudly. My first apprentice already! I wouldn't get to train Sassafraspaw for a very long time, because she would be moving to the nursery soon, but still.

"Now everyone eat and go to sleep. It's been a long day."

* * *

 _The sun was bright as I entered a beautiful field of golden pansies_ **(remember Goldensun can see in his dreams)** _. A shining stream flowed by._

 _In front of me stood Darkshadow. This was the first time that I'd ever seen him._

 _"_ _Hello, Goldensun," Darkshadow purred. "I'm going to teach you new moves."_

 _"_ _All right." I watched him expectantly. What was he going to teach me? Something that would make me powerful that I could use for the good of the Clans?_

 _"_ _It's called the water-crawl," he said. He told me to run at him. With a hiss, I charged. But much to my surprise, Darkshadow crawled under my legs and shoved me into the water._

 _I landed in the stream with a loud splash. "You okay?" asked Darkshadow. I nodded. "Now you try it on me." He ran at me, but I quickly ran under his legs and he fell down because I knocked him flat. Before he could get up, he had landed in the water._

 _Oh no! What if I'd hurt him?_

 _But when I looked back, he was climbing out of the water and grinning._

 _"_ _Excellent job," he meowed. "I was impressed with your technique of knocking me off of my feet and then pushing me into the stream. Let's try this one. When you shove me into the stream, then you're supposed to bare your teeth at my neck and deliver a killing bite. And you can keep your claws unsheathed because this is a dream so you can't get hurt. And I'm a StarClan warrior, so I can't get hurt either."_

 _I nodded. He charged at me again and I dove under his legs, clawing them and shoving them to the side on the way. He let out a cry and collapsed. Then I lifted him up and threw him into the stream._

 _My teeth were at his exposed neck before he could recover._

 _"_ _Nicely done," said Darkshadow, sounding very impressed. "You really knocked me off of my feet."_

 _The scratches that I had given him were already starting to heal._

 _"_ _Now let's try another move," he added._

 _We spent the rest of the night battle-training. Every time, he showered me with compliments_

 _At sunrise, he told me a surprising thing. "Did you know that your medicine cat is a traitor?" he asked._

 _I stopped. "What do you mean?" I asked._

 _"_ _Willowbranch took a mate," he meowed. "It's against the medicine code, as we all know, but she did it anyways. Her mate is Sandfur._ And _she gave birth to a kit."_

 _Brave, loyal Sandfur. I had never imagined that he could do such a thing!_

 _"_ _She's as bad as Bluepaw," he added. "They're both traitors, and you're Clan is well rid of them. Did you know that Willowbranch murdered my daughter?"_

 _"_ _What?" I asked, leaping to my paws._

 _"_ _She would have been made a warrior by now," said Darkshadow, anger in his eyes. "You two could have been good friends. Willowbranch must be brought to justice."_

 _"_ _She must," I murmured. My head was spinning with shock, and I was beginning to think that my Clan was a nest for traitors. Well, I'd pull them out! That would tell everyone that my blindness didn't matter. Instead of babying me, they'd fear me._

 _"_ _Now wake up. It's sunrise."_

I got up and walked outside of the camp. Bluepaw was there. He was looking at me.

"Goldensun, can we talk?" he asked.

"Sure," I muttered, baring my teeth as he came.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking upset. "We used to be best friends. Ever since you got your warrior name you haven't spoken to me. What did I do wrong?"

I growled and flattened my ears, which made Bluepaw take a step back. "You didn't do anything," I replied. "Not _yet_ , anyways."

I saw hurt and confusion flash on his face. I didn't want to be so cold to him. But he was going to destroy the Clans, so how could I be friendly to him? It would make it harder to kill him.

I didn't want it to be this way. But Darkshadow was right, I knew. He always was.

"GOLDENSUN! Did you hear me call you for the hunting patrol?" Featherfur called in annoyance.

"See what you did?" I hissed at Bluepaw. "You were talking to me, so I didn't hear her call my name. Now I have to go. Bye!"

I ran off to join Sassafraspaw on the patrol, ignoring my brother calling my name. I felt a twinge of guilt for being so rude. But it was my job to kill him. I couldn't be his friend anymore.

* * *

 **That's enough for today. Next time...**

 **\- Silverpaw breaks the warrior code (more than she's done already)**

 **\- We see some possible romance.**

 **\- Silverpaw gets a new friend.**

 **Q** **OTD:** **Who is your favorite character in the story so far?**


	12. Chapter 10: Forbidden Love

**Hey. Sorry it's been a while since I updated.**

 **Previously on TMotM...**

 **"I ran off to join Sassafraspaw on the patrol, ignoring my brother calling my name. I felt a twinge of guilt for being so rude. But it was my job to kill him. I couldn't be his friend anymore."**

* * *

CHAPTER 10: FORBIDDEN LOVE

Silverpaw's POV

In the middle of the night, I was awoken by a claw in my side.

"Who are you?" I said aloud.

" _Shh_!" the voice said. "You'll wake up everyone!"

I glanced over my shoulder. Luckily Leopardpaw and Sassafraspaw were still asleep. I carefully stepped over them and followed the tom-cat. When we reached outside, I looked at him in surprise. "Wildpaw?"

Wildpaw frowned. "I came to see you," he meowed. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

"Why should I trust you?" I meowed.

"Silverpaw," he said, "Remember last Gathering, when we met?"

I did. I had liked Wildpaw a lot. He had seemed like a good cat to me.

"Silverpaw, ever since then, I've wanted to get to know you more," he said breathlessly. "But you didn't come this Gathering, so I was disappointed. I was going to tell you that I would meet you in the night. But this time I decided to just come without letting you know."

I stared at him. "Come with me," he said.

"But I'm breaking about three rules by leaving camp!" I protested. "And in the morning, everyone will notice my scent trail leading out of camp, as well as yours."

"Look up. It's raining," he replied. I looked up and saw that he was right. The rain would wash away our scent. "Come with me," he meowed. I followed him. Flamingfur was on guard duty and looked half-asleep. Being the master of sneaking out of camp, I showed Wildpaw how to leave camp without being noticed by Flamingfur.

"What three rules are you breaking?" he asked me.

I told him the three. The first rule that I had broken was that apprentices weren't allowed out of camp after dark. Secondly, the second rule was the new restrictions that Midnightstar had placed, saying that no apprentice could leave the camp without a warrior escort. And lastly, I was defying my punishment by being out here. "Why were you punished?" he asked. I told him why. He looked sympathetic.

"Some of these rules are so mouse-brained," he said. "I mean, your Clan was starving, so you shouldn't be punished for hunting on WindClan land. I mean, some of the rules make sense, like the ones about not killing and everything, but not letting apprentices leave camp at night? Did you know that in ShadowClan that's allowed?"

"What?" I asked indignantly. "That's so unfair? How did you know?"

"Some ShadowClan apprentices told me at the Gathering," he answered. "That's because they're the Clan of night-hunters and tunneling. They're the only Clan that has nighttime border patrols."

"As if you need to mark your borders an extra time," I said scornfully. "We still know where they are."

"They think that we apprentices can't think for ourselves and we're too _dumb_ to be allowed out of camp after dark," said Wildpaw. "I mean, look at them! 'No, Wildpaw, listen to the adult cats. Let us make all the rules for you and take away your freedoms. We all know what's best for you!' Yeah, right. Flowerstar _so_ knows what's best for me."

"But I heard from Leopardpaw that you joined FlowerClan," I said.

"I had no choice," said Wildpaw grimly. "I would have died if I hadn't. I get enough food there also."

I nodded, pressing my head against his fur. He licked the top of my head comfortingly.

"Another rule that I hate," I meowed, "is the one that bans you from having friends from other Clans. I mean come on, that's fox-dung!"

"So we're friends?" asked Wildpaw hopefully. I looked at him in surprise. "Well, you seem keen on letting cats have friends from other Clans, so does that mean you think I'm a friend?"

I nodded. "We're friends."

* * *

 **AOTD:** **I absolutely love Silverpaw, because she's so cute In second place would be Flowerstar, and then Midnightstar. Bluepaw and Goldenpaw are my least favorite. Goldenpaw because he's haughty and annoying, and Bluepaw because he's kinda sueish.**

 **QOTD:** **What is your favorite dessert?**


	13. Author's Note 1

AUTHOR'S NOTE 1

 **Hello, everyone. I just have to say that I won't be updating for a while. About a week, I think. I am on vacation, and I won't be here for a while.**  
 **I'm just going to reply to my one review below:**

 **Nightlight: That sounds awesome! I'm a chocolate addict too. Chocolate rocks!**

 **Bye, and see you all next week!**


	14. Chapter 11: A Dangerous Secret Revealed

**I'm baaaack! I was on vacation for a while, and that's what I wrote in my author's note. And yeah, I know that my author's note was messed up. I fixed it, so you might want to go back and see what I says.**

 **Sorry for the long wait. I came back 2 days ago and I tried to post this, but the website wouldn't let me. But now I can!**

 **Review reply:**

 **Aarnonuis:** **Aww that's sweet... *eats chocolate* And don't worry, I'm not giving up anytime soon. I couldn't upload this while I was on vacation, because there was no Internet! I don't know how I survived. Did you say that Bluepaw was your favorite character? Well then, here's your complimentary Bluepaw plushie! And I appreciate the support. What exactly do you like about this story?**

* * *

CHAPTER 11: A DANGEROUS SECRET REVEALED

Silverpaw's POV

A few days later, I waited in anticipation for tonight, because I had arranged to meet Wildpaw again at the island. I couldn't wait. This was going to be so much fun.

I looked up as Midnightstar came to me, tail twitching.

"I know that a full moon hasn't passed," she meowed. "However, I have decided that your punishment is complete. You have behaved very well, so I think you deserve it. Besides, I need more warriors. You can join Graypelt's sunrise hunting patrol." With that she left.

I couldn't believe it. Midnightstar, out of all cats, was ending my punishment? It was too good to be true. Well, I guess leaf-bare makes us all a little crazy, right? I joined Goldensun and Sassafraspaw as we walked along the river.

"Can you believe it?" I asked excitedly. "Midnightstar let me come with you guys! I so need the fresh air after being stuck in camp all this time!"

"Silverpaw, you're so loud that you're going to scare all of the prey!" shouted Graypelt. I blushed.

"It doesn't matter," I protested. "We're fishing. We don't need to keep quiet to catch fish."

"Duck-brain," muttered Graypelt. "This is what happens when apprentices are confined to camp. Don't you remember? We don't have any more fish. We have to find ducks as our last resort."

Oh yeah. I had forgotten.

"I remember eating that duck," I meowed, shuddering. "It tasted _awful_. Great StarClan, I hate duck."

"Don't we all?" Snakescale replied. "But we have to put up with it because there is no more fish or any other time of water-bird."

"I don't mind frog or toad though," I said. "And I like swan. When I was a kit I remember my father catching me one. And did you see the size of that goose I caught in greenleaf? It fed _four_ cats. And it was so fat and delicious. My favorite fish is trout" –

– "Look what you did!" Graypelt said in annoyance. "You scared the duck away! I was just going to catch it."

"Sorry," I muttered, ashamed. Goldensun sat there, looking amused.

"This isn't funny Goldensun," snapped Graypelt. "It's leaf-bare, and we must concentrate hard on finding food. The Clan must always come _first_! Now Silverpaw, I don't want to hear you utter a single word, or you're going back."

I clamped my jaws shut and looked around. I saw a duck on the water. I charged and caught the duck swiftly before it could run. Ducks can't fly, so that makes them easier to catch and that is why they don't fly away in leaf-bare.

It is a little hard to find toads and frogs in leaf-bare, because they sleep throughout the whole season, but we can sometimes dig down and find them.

I caught a few ducks and minnows, enough to make Graypelt look a little pleased, which was rare, considering he was always grumpy. The ducks were small, and the minnows were tiny, but food is food. I also found a toad burrow, dug down, and caught the sleeping toad.

We walked back, our paws full (compared to the luck we normally have). It was climbing-sun, and our morning mealtime. Our patrol was supposed to hunt for the elders and for Purpleflower, so I carried two toads for Dawnsky and Dusksky in the elders' den and a duck for Purpleflower. The rest of the prey we caught went to the warriors and apprentices, though the other patrol was supposed to hunt for them.

I walked into the nursery with a small duck in my jaws and placed it down besides Purpleflower. She smiled gratefully and began eating. "Thank you Silverpaw," she purred, leaning down to eat. It was tiny, but it was food, and sadly, the only food that Purpleflower would be getting until sundown.

I went to the pile and got a few minnows for myself. Then I went into the nursery and sat beside Purpleflower. I figured that it would be nice to give her company, since she was the only cat in the nursery. Well, Sassafraspaw would be moving in soon, so Purpleflower didn't really need anyone, but I figured why not.

"How many kits are you expecting?" I asked.

"Willowbranch says about four or five," she replied happily. "I'm going to have a large litter."

I nodded. "I know that Darkshadow would have been a wonderful father," I meowed. She nodded, eyes glazing with pain. I probably shouldn't have reminded her about Darkshadow. Oops. I sat down.

"Have you ever had a forbidden love?" Purpleflower asked unexpectedly. I stared at her. Who would ask that question?

"Yes," I stammered, then immediately kicked myself. Why had I told her? Now my relationship with Wildpaw would end.

To my surprise, Purpleflower didn't seem mad. "I knew so," she sighed. "I saw you with him last night."

I was stunned. Purpleflower had seen me? But she wasn't allowed out of camp after dark! Not anymore, anyways.

"I just want to say that it's not worth it," she said. "I know because I had a forbidden relationship too. And Darkshadow died because of it."

As soon as she said it, she looked as if she regretted her words. I stared down at her. So those kits weren't his! They were some other cats.

"You killed Darkshadow, didn't you?" I said furiously. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

Purpleflower nodded weakly.

"Why?" I demanded.

Purpleflower growled. "That is none of your concern!"

I flinched.

"And if you tell anyone," she added threateningly, "I'll tell them all about your forbidden relationship, and you'll be kicked out of the Clans. You don't want that, do you?"

"N-no," I stuttered.

"Good," she replied, her voice suddenly sweet again. "Thank you for bringing me food. I will not tell anyone about your relationship, and in turn I expect that you don't tell anyone about my secret. I appreciate it that you understand."

And with that, she left. Shuddering, I turned back to my food. What would Purpleflower do to me now?

* * *

 **Nice going, Purpleflower. Way to spill your darkest secret.**


	15. Chapter 12: Attack and Another Loss

**This chapter is exactly 1300 words long. That is, without the parts in bold. I'm actually really proud of this chapter, and I think that it's one of my best so far.**

* * *

CHAPTER 12: ATTACK AND ANOTHER LOSS

Bluepaw's POV

"We're under attack!"

I shoved my water vole aside and looked up. FlowerClan warriors were making their way to our camp, with Flowerstar at their head!

"Bluepaw! Up here," screamed Willowbranch. I followed her up the Lakeledge. She had some of her herbs with her, ready to heal injured warriors. The elders and Purpleflower were up here also, so that they could be protected from the battle.

The first cat to come up to be healed was Sassafraspaw. She had never been that good of a fighter, always preferring peace over war. I applied a marigold poultice to the scratches, and then made a goldenrod and horsetail poultice for her wound. Placing a cobweb over the wound, I told her to rest for a while on the Lakeledge.

I saw Leopardpaw fighting fiercely with a FlowerClan warrior twice her size. She clawed at him and ripped his fur out. He screeched, blood dripping down his sides, storming off to his medicine cat to get healed.

I watched, impressed. Leopardpaw was a really good fighter. I had a feeling that she'd be made a warrior very soon.

Then I looked over at Goldensun and gasped. Great StarClan, where had he learned those moves from? Goldensun had never been much of a fighter. He was helping Silverpaw fight, and I watched in awe as they pushed over a huge FlowerClan warrior and sent him running to Mapleleaf.

"No!" A sudden yowl made the hairs on my spine rise.

I froze as I saw a cat lying on the ground. _Graypelt…_

I rushed to help the warrior, but it was too late. Graypelt was dead.

One of our best senior warriors had died. Died at Flowerstar's claws. Even though I'm a medicine cat and not supposed to have an opinion, I felt a sudden hatred for the FlowerClan leader.

Suddenly a FlowerClan tom, by Flowerstar's orders, ran forwards and pinned Leopardpaw to the ground. Silverpaw screamed, instinctively running towards her sister, but Goldensun held her back.

"Make one move towards her and the apprentice is dead!" Flowerstar shouted. "Midnightstar, if you don't give up more land, your apprentice will be dead. If you refuse, you will be remembered as the leader who let such a young cat die. Do you want that?"

Midnightstar glared. Never had I seen such loathing and disgust. Even from Midnightstar that was a fierce glare.

"Fine. I wish you joy of such useless territory," spat Midnightstar.

 _It's not useless_ , I thought. _That has kept us fed the whole leaf-bare._

Several of the senior warriors cast their leader looks of disbelief, but what could she do? She had no choice.

"Good choice, Midnightstar," said Flowerstar, sounding pleased, and I wanted to claw her face out. "But I'd be careful of where I tread if I were you. You have battered my patience down tonight."

Everyone watched in silence as she walked off, head high, with her warriors trailing behind her.

"We lost more territory," said Muddyclaw, one of the senior warriors, in a raspy voice.

I looked at him. There was something wrong, I knew. Flattening my ears, I looked more closely at the tom.

That was the moment when Muddyclaw fainted.

* * *

"Carry him into my den," Willowbranch ordered sharply. In a daze, I helped the other apprentices carry Muddyclaw into the medicine den. The other apprentices left as Willowbranch and I looked at Muddyclaw.

"He's suffering from starvation," said Willowbranch. "He probably hasn't eaten a decent meal in days. Tell Midnightstar to send out a hunting patrol."

We usually never ate at sunhigh. Our two mealtimes were at early climbing-sun and at sundown. But this was an emergency, and Muddyclaw would die if he didn't get food soon.

"Midnightstar," I told her, "Willowbranch says to send out a patrol to get food for Muddyclaw. And as quickly as possible."

Midnightstar nodded. "I'll go and hunt for him," she said. "Leopardpaw! Come with me hunting," she said sharply. Leopardpaw looked up at the leader and nodded.

Goldensun followed them, obviously wanting to help, but Midnightstar snapped at him. "No, I don't want you to come on this important mission. You're blind, and I need some cat that can actually hunt _fast_." With a flick of her tail, she ran after her apprentice.

Goldensun's hurt expression was as full as the amount of arrogance and pride that Midnightstar always possessed. I, too, was stunned by Midnightstar's fury. Sure, Goldensun had been interfering, even though no cat had asked, and I understood that Midnightstar hadn't meant it; she was just too worried about Muddyclaw to watch her words. But that was no excuse. Goldensun may be blind, but he can hunt as well as any cat. I laid my tail over his shoulders to comfort him, but he snapped at me. "I don't need comfort, least of all from _you_ ," he snarled. Feeling hurt, I watched him storm into the warriors' den.

I sighed. Before we used to be extremely close. Now, a chasm was steadily growing larger and larger between the two of us, and there was nothing I could do about it.

* * *

Leopardpaw's POV

I jogged with my mentor. "Why are we going hunting now?" I asked. "We never hunt after sunrise."

"We have to get food for Muddyclaw," she replied, running by the river. "Find something _as quickly as possible_. Something like a duck would be good."

I nodded, before sprinting into the field. This had to be the harshest leaf-bare I had ever encountered. Of course, it is the _only_ leaf-bare so far that I have encountered, but still. By the river, I found a duck. My mentor told me to take it back immediately. She went out looking for more food while I made my way to camp.

As I was walking, I saw a squirrel. I knew it was land prey, but food was food. But since we didn't really learn how to catch land prey, I would have to use battle moves to get it.

I knew that I was supposed to get to Muddyclaw first, but I _had_ to get this squirrel for him. It would be better than this wimpy duck anyways.

I dropped into my best stealth crouch and slowly walked after the squirrel. It took a while, but I had finally caught it. Satisfied, I carried my two catches back to camp.

When I reached there, Bluepaw stared at me with stricken eyes. Then he blurted out, "It's too late, Leopardpaw. Muddyclaw is dead."

* * *

Sassafraspaw's POV

"What do you mean, Muddyclaw is _dead_?" Leopardpaw exploded.

"I mean, he died," said Bluepaw simply. She stared at Bluepaw, and then buried her face in her pelt with a sob.

Flamingfur came up to Leopardpaw softly. "It wasn't your fault," she meowed. "There isn't enough prey to go around."

"But it is!" Leopardpaw howled.

"How?" asked Bluepaw, clearly worried.

"I caught a duck very fast," sobbed Leopardpaw. "I was told to go back immediately. But I didn't. Instead I had to stop when I saw a squirrel. If I had caught the duck and ignored the squirrel, then Muddyclaw would be alive now!"

"It's not your fault," a voice said firmly. I looked up to see Willowbranch. "He died almost immediately after you left. You couldn't have saved him."

"I have _had_ it," growled Midnightstar, who had just appeared. "We have lost so many cats this leaf-bare. If we don't expand our territory, then Muddyclaw won't be the last cat to die. We're going to ThunderClan first thing tomorrow."

I stared at her. _Oh StarClan why?_ I hated war. Why couldn't we be at peace? At the same time I understood why we were doing this. If we didn't then RiverClan would be wiped out.


	16. Chapter 13: Battle With ThunderClan

CHAPTER 13: BATTLE WITH THUNDERCLAN

Sassafraspaw's POV

Leopardpaw was still distraught over the loss of Muddyclaw, and she still blamed herself. Because of this Midnightstar immediately excused her from the battle. I felt really bad for my friend, but there was nothing I could do.

I padded alongside Bluepaw, who looked at me with sorrow in his eyes.

"Sassafraspaw," he said, "we used to be really good friends. Why can't you talk?"

I bowed down my head, refusing to acknowledge the question.

"You can't stay silent forever," he meowed. "You'll talk someday, I'm telling you. All I want you to know is that I am your friend, and I am here for you. Once you _do_ find your voice, then I want you to talk to me."

I intertwined my tail with his and nuzzled his fur. He was a good friend, one of the best that any cat could ask for. I wished I could talk. I wish I could tell him.

But my voice was a thing of the past.

* * *

Silverpaw's POV

We left to go to ThunderClan. I was very excited but also a little worried. What would happen to ThunderClan?

We had to swim across the lake. FlowerClan occupies the old ShadowClan and WindClan territories, so I knew that it was impossible to go through them. Luckily, we are the Clan of swimmers, and we have ways of travel besides land.

Goldensun swam alongside me. "You ready for the battle?" he asked, rather curtly.

"Yes," I replied instantly.

The two of us have always been really good friends. Whenever he was upset, I knew not to say anything to comfort him. I knew that he was still mad about the thing that Midnightstar had said to him yesterday, so I didn't push it.

I had always been there for him. When he was constantly set aside because of his lack of sight, I would stand up for him. If someone at a Gathering jeered at him for being blind, I would snap at that cat. We were almost like brother-and-sister.

Anyways, that wasn't important now. At that moment, we had reached ThunderClan and Foxstar was coming to address us.

"What is it you want?" he asked, quietly. I was stunned at his condition. He looked feeble, and his once-glorious reddish-brown coat was now a dull shade of mud. He was also extremely skinny.

Was it such a good idea to attack them after all?

"Well, Foxstar," meowed Midnightstar, "FlowerClan has constantly been taking our land and we can't fight back. They are too strong, but we need land desperately, and we cannot fight them."

"So you want _our_ land instead," meowed Foxstar at once.

"Exactly," sighed Midnightstar. "We _need_ it, Foxstar. You may have noticed that our Clan is much bigger than yours, so we need more territory."

Foxstar looked defeated. "I want you to have all of our land," he said.

There were gasps of shock. "Foxstar! How could you do that?"

Even Midnightstar looked taken aback. "Then where will you go?" she asked.

"I haven't finished," replied Foxstar. "I want you to have all of our land on the condition that we can have all of yours."

"Aha," said Midnightstar, catching on. "So we should form an alliance?"

"Yes," he meowed. "We stand no chance alone. But if we combine forces, then we may be able to resist FlowerClan. It's worth a try."

"Okay," said Midnightstar, "but you cannot be a Flowerstar. You will not have full control, and I will not serve as your warrior. We will be joint-leaders."

"That is a good idea," said Foxstar. He bowed his head. "What shall we call our Clan?"

"How about a mix of storm and water?" suggested Midnightstar. "RainClan."

"Perfect," he meowed. "Make everyone move into my camp."

"Bluepaw, Goldensun, and Silverpaw, you can accompany me back over the lake," Midnightstar called. "You can help me get our Clan over here."

I grinned, pleased with the idea. I followed Midnightstar to the lake. Since RiverClan was on the other side, we had to swim across the lake to get here. I was very much in support of this alliance. Now we stood a chance against FlowerClan.

But my sprits plummeted as we reached the camp.

"Midnightstar!" screamed Snakescale. "Something _terrible_ has happened!"

"What?" asked Midnightstar, clearly worried.

"FlowerClan invaded," he gasped. "They stole Leopardpaw and took her to their camp. And if you don't surrender all of your territory by sundown tomorrow, they – they'll kill her."

* * *

 **Flowerstar is such a bad kitty! I do love her as a villain though...**

 **AOTD:** **I love cheesecake. However, I hate chocolate cheesecake because I often feel that the flavors clash. Strawberry/raspberry cheesecake is the best.**

 **QOTD:** **What is your favorite band?**

 **COTD (Challenge of the day):** **Make a list of your ten most favorite and least favorite warrior cats, each accompanied by an explanation. If you send it to me in a review/PM before the next chapter is posted, you will get the plushie of your choice! (If you are a guest, you are welcome to send it in a review. But if you are a member, please PM the list to me. I'd just prefer that, thanks.)**

 **Please review!**


	17. OC Submission Information

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT HERE!**

 **I'm planning a sequel for this already. Please could you guys send in OCs? If you are a guest, you may send it in a review, but if you are a member of FanFiction, send it in a PM. If you are a member and you don't send it in a PM, I WILL NOT USE YOUR OC!**

 **(Ouch, I think I just broke my Caps-Lock button.)**

* * *

 **There are a few requirements for your OC. This is because I want them to be realistic. Here are some facts that you must pay attention to:**

 **\- Most kittens start off with blue eyes, and it takes 2-7 months for them to develop their adult color. Please specify their adult color in your submission.**

 **\- Albino cats are very rare. They must be fully white and have pink, pale lavender, or very light blue eyes. (Cats cannot have pink or purple eyes unless they are albino.)**

 **\- 80% of fully white cats with blue eyes are deaf.**

 **-In order for a cat to have blue eyes, he/she must have white somewhere on his/her body. (The Erins have broken this one many times)**

 **\- You cannot have a tortoiseshell tom, because tortoiseshell toms are infertile and impossible in the wild.**

 **\- Cats cannot have distinct markings such as stars and hearts on their foreheads. They, however, can have marks on their forehead.**

 **\- Cats cannot have ridiculous colorings such as purple, pink, blue, or green fur. They, however, can have blue-gray fur, or pinkish-gray fur.**

 **\- Most important rule: NO MARY-SUES ARE ALLOWED, AND THAT INCLUDES STARGLEAM!**

 **I follow Feather That Falls From Crow's fanfic guide, so check it out: s/10132826/1/The-Official-Unofficial-Warriors-Fanfiction-Guide**

 **Also, if your OC does not follow any of the above rules, I will change it.**

* * *

 **Here is the submission form. I will be using one of my OCs as an example:**

 **Name: Scarletlake (please include full name)**

 **Gender: she-cat**

 **Appearance: beautiful, dark, russet-furred she-cat with white paws, a white chest and tail, and deep, dazzling, dark blue eyes.**

 **Personality: feisty, arrogant, clever, determined, and sassy. She is a lot like Jessy (from** ** _Bramblestar's Storm_** **) and is very spunky and brave. She is also noble and has a soft spot for kits.**

 **Affiliations (Clan): BloodClan and RiverClan**

 **Ranks: rouge, then queen, and then warrior**

 **Death Probability (0 being "I don't care what you do with my character" and 5 being "MY CHARACTER MUST LIVE!"): 1**

* * *

 **Here are the Allegiances:**

 **RiverClan**

 **LEADER [None needed]**

 **DEPUTY [None needed]**

 **MEDICINE CAT [None needed]**

 **WARRIORS [18 needed]**

 **APPRENTICES (No medicine apprentices) [3 needed]**

 **QUEENS [2 needed]**

 **KITTENS [2 needed]**

 **ELDERS [2 needed]**

 **WindClan**

 **LEADER [None needed]**

 **DEPUTY [1 needed]**

 **MEDICINE CAT [None needed]**

 **WARRIORS [12 needed]**

 **APPRENTICES [4 needed, 1 medicine apprentice allowed]**

 **QUEENS [2 needed]**

 **KITTENS [3 needed]**

 **ELDERS [2 needed]**

 **ThunderClan**

 **LEADER [1 needed]**

 **DEPUTY [1 needed]**

 **MEDICINE CAT [None needed]**

 **WARRIORS [9 needed]**

 **APPRENTICES [3 needed, 1 medicine apprentice allowed]**

 **QUEENS [2 needed]**

 **KITTENS [3 needed]**

 **ELDERS [2 needed]**

 **ShadowClan**

 **LEADER [1 needed]**

 **DEPUTY [1 needed]**

 **MEDICINE CAT [None needed]**

 **WARRIORS [9 needed]**

 **APPRENTICES [3 needed, 1 medicine apprentice allowed]**

 **QUEENS [2 needed]**

 **KITTENS [3 needed]**

 **ELDERS [2 needed]**

 **SkyClan**

 **LEADER [1 needed]**

 **DEPUTY [1 needed]**

 **MEDICINE CAT [1 needed]**

 **WARRIORS [12 needed]**

 **APPRENTICES [4 needed, 1 medicine apprentice allowed]**

 **QUEENS [2 needed]**

 **KITTENS [3 needed]**

 **ELDERS [2 needed]**

 **Cats Outside the Clans**

 **KITTYPETS [1 she-cat]**

 **LONERS [2 toms and 1 she-cat]**

 **ROUGES [5 toms and 3 she-cats]**

 **I will be frequently updating this, so you will know which roles are closed and which are opened.**

 **I can't guarantee large roles. If you put your cat in RiverClan there is more of a guarantee that he/she will have a larger role.**

 **Also, the loner she-cat is very important to the story (hint hint). You might wanna submit!**

 **Here is the form, so you don't have to scroll all the way up again:**

 **Name:**

 **Gender:**

 **Appearance:**

 **Personality:**

 **Affiliations (Clan):**

 **Ranks:**

 **Death Probability (0 being "I don't care what you do with my character" and 5 being "MY CHARACTER MUST LIVE!"):**

 **And please don't fight over who gets what role. It's first come, first serve, and you need to get a move on if you want to be leader!**


	18. Chapter 14: The Capture and the Resce

**Previously on TMotM...**

 **"FlowerClan invaded. They stole Leopardpaw and took her to their camp. And if you don't surrender all of your territory by sundown tomorrow, they – they'll kill her."**

* * *

CHAPTER 14: THE CAPTURE AND THE RESCUE

 _Earlier that day_

Leopardpaw's POV

"FLOWERCLAN!"

I jolted at the yowl. Unsheathing my claws, I growled as I saw Flowerstar enter the camp, that stupid smirk on her face.

"You! Come over here _now_ ," she screamed. I froze as she directed her meow at me. I just sat there, refusing to follow her. There was no way I was going to let a cat from another Clan intimidate me.

"If you don't come, I will kill every cat here!" she yelled, and I could tell that she meant it. Flowerstar let out a horrible, cruel laugh, one that sent chills down my spine. "Do you want _that_?"

In terror I walked slowly to her. She placed a firm claw on my shoulder, as if to stop me from going anywhere.

"She is mine now," she announced. "Until you give me all of your territory and submit yourselves to my rule, she will remain in my camp. You have until sundown tomorrow to make your decision. At sundown she will be executed."

There was a roar of fury. "No!" screamed Raincloud. "Not my daughter. Take me instead!"

"Oh, I don't think you really want to do that, Raincloud," purred Flowerstar. "The needs of your Clan come before your own kin."

Raincloud looked as if he wanted to kill Flowerstar.

"No," I said to my mother, "she's right. RiverClan comes first."

"So brave, so noble," Flowerstar sneered. "Alright, come with me."

Two warriors yanked me away. I followed, ignoring the cries of my mother and the screams of my father.

* * *

 _Present-time_

Bluepaw's POV

"We have to rescue her!" Silverpaw cried.

Midnightstar bowed her head. "No we do not," she said somberly.

" _What_!" screamed Flamingfur. "You're going to let them take my daughter? How dare you!"

"Remember what she said when she was leaving?" Lightfoot meowed. "'No, let them take me. RiverClan comes first.' She said that, so that must mean that she understood that we might not go after her. I side with Midnightstar."

"But you _can't_!" Silverpaw screamed. "Why? She's my _sister_ , for StarClan's sake!"

"And what am I supposed to do, rescue her so that I can give up my Clan to Flowerstar?" Midnightstar's voice was rough. Then she shook her head. "Leopardpaw was right. RiverClan comes first. Silverpaw and Flamingfur, RiverClan comes above even your own kin. The whole of RiverClan will stand vigil for Leopardpaw tonight, and honor her for her courage and sacrifice."

Raincloud looked as if she wanted to kill Midnightstar.

Silverpaw glared at Midnightstar, and then stormed into the apprentices' den. I followed her.

She growled. "I can't believe that she's going to let them kill my sister," she whispered. Then suddenly, as if struck by lightning, she gasped. "We'll go rescue her!" she cried. I stared.

"But how do you plan on getting her out of FlowerClan?" I asked. "And Midnightstar will be expecting you to look for her, so how do you even plan on leaving our camp in the first place?"

"Bluepaw!" cried Silverpaw. "Am I not the master of sneaking out of camp? Do you think that I am not capable of leaving? Come on!" She sprang to her paws excitedly.

We walked out of the apprentices' den. Midnightstar was explaining the changes to the Clan, about how we were called RainClan now and were joined with ThunderClan. Everyone was listening to her, so they didn't even notice as we left camp.

As we walked, I froze as I felt someone behind us. "Silverpaw we're caught," I cried. "Caught doing what?" asked a voice. I spun around to see Goldensun and Sassafraspaw.

"Goldensun!" yowled Silverpaw. "What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" asked Goldensun. Silverpaw's fur bristled.

"Rescuing my sister," she growled.

"And how do you plan on doing _that_?" Goldensun asked.

I had to admit, he had a point. I didn't know how we were going to pull this off either.

"Listen," said Goldensun, "I have a plan." He explained it to us in full detail, and I had to admit that it was a good one.

We washed ourselves in the lake so that our scent would drown away. Then we continued with our plan.

As planned, Silverpaw was supposed to convince a FlowerClan cat to help us. She told me that she knew a cat that wasn't fully loyal to FlowerClan.

She approached Wildpaw, who was sitting by himself. Wildpaw glanced up in surprise.

"Silverpaw?" he asked, confused. He looked up and saw the rest of us.

"We need your help Wildpaw," she said.

"Wild _water_ ," he corrected her. "I just got my warrior name."

Silverpaw blinked. "Sorry, Wildwater. Congratulations on your name! So anyways, they captured my sister, and you must help me rescue her."

"I was talking to her earlier," he meowed. "Alright. What do you want me to do?"

"Make a distraction so that they all leave camp." Wildwater nodded.

"I scented a fox earlier today," he meowed. "I'll lead them to it."

I frowned. "How do you know this tom so well?" I whispered to Silverpaw. "Tell you later," she whispered.

We hid inside of a bramble bush and Wildwater strode into camp. "Flowerstar!" he screamed. "I scent fox!"

"Where?" she asked. "Over here!" he called, leading her in the opposite direction.

"Everyone except kits, elders, and Orangefoot, follow me," Flowerstar ordered.

Once we were sure that they were gone, we walked into camp. The only warrior left – Orangefoot – let out a hiss of alarm. "Oh great," he muttered as he saw Goldensun. "What do you want?" he asked, his voice rising in panic.

"I want my sister back," snarled Silverpaw.

He growled. "No way!"

In a rage Goldensun leapt onto Orangefoot's shoulders while we went inside. Leopardpaw was huddled there, looking frightened and scared. Her one-beautiful, golden pelt was now a dull shade of yellow.

"LEOPARDPAW!" I exclaimed joyfully. She woke up with a start.

"You're here!" she gasped. We embraced each other tightly.

"Okay, enough with the happy reunion!" Goldensun called sharply. "I hear FlowerClan!"

We froze as we saw Flowerstar standing over us, the usual smirk on her face.

"What have we here?" she asked. "More prisoners? Looks like Midnightstar is going to _have_ to give up."

I stared in shock. _Oh, StarClan._ This couldn't be happening.

"No," growled Wildwater before he realized that he had said the wrong thing.

"You know what Wildwater?" said Flowerstar. "I scented no fox. I think that was just a way to get us away so that Leopardpaw could escape. Wasn't it?"

Wildwater gave no answer.

"Kill him," ordered Flowerstar. Silverpaw let out a squeak of terror.

But before any cat could make a move Wildwater had pinned Silverpaw to the ground.

"Flowerstar," he meowed. "If you lay one claw on my pelt I will kill this apprentice."

Silverpaw let out another squeak of terror.

"Why should I care?" asked Flowerstar.

"Because," replied Wildwater, "she is a valuable prisoner to lose."

"You know what, all of you can go," said Flowerstar. I was shocked. Would she really let us off that easily?

"Yes, even you Wildwater," she meowed. "I don't care. My Clan is very big anyways. We can squash you whenever we want." She let out a laugh that made me want to strangle her. "But be careful from now on."

We turned tail and ran before she could change her mind.

* * *

Silverpaw's POV

How could Wildwater do this to me? I thought we were _friends_! We were supposed to always be there for each other. And now he wanted me to die. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.

"Wildwater," I growled, "our relationship is _over_."

"Silverpaw," he gasped, "I didn't mean to betray you! Trust me I wouldn't have actually killed you. I just panicked. And besides, I got us out safely, didn't I?"

"I'm not interested." I fled from his side, ignoring as he called my name.

I hid behind a bramble bush, sobbing. I couldn't believe that he would betray me like that. _Why?_ I thought silently.

"Silverpaw?" asked a voice. I looked up to see Goldensun.

"Wildwater was your forbidden mate?" he asked curiously.

"Yes," I replied sadly.

"I know it's hard," he said sympathetically. "But you'll find someone else, Silverpaw."

I stared after him, bewildered. Did he have someone in mind for me?

* * *

 **So next chapter...**

 **\- Leopardpaw and Silverpaw will get their names.**

 **\- Sassafraspaw will retire to the nursery.**

 **\- Bluepaw will receive shocking news.**


	19. Chapter 15: Three Ceremonies

**This chapter is a little boring, but we finally get some names!**

* * *

CHAPTER 15: TWO WARRIOR CEREMONIES

Bluepaw's POV

We went to ThunderClan camp, which was our new home. When we got back there was a great deal of cheering for us. Midnightstar was so pleased with us for rescuing Leopardpaw.

"May all cats old enough to swim join around the Lakeledge for a Clan meeting!" Midnightstar called.

" _High_ ledge," corrected Foxstar. "Ours is called the Highledge. It's not a Lakeledge anymore."

"Whatever," said Midnightstar abruptly. "Foxstar and I decided that we will accept Wildwater back into RainClan."

I noticed that this wasn't a very popular decision with the ex-RiverClanners, but the ThunderClan cats welcomed their warrior back.

"And also," decided Midnightstar, "Leopardpaw and Silverpaw will get their warrior names, I have decided. There is no better way to reward them."

RainClan cheered loudly.

"Goldensun, Bluepaw, and Sassafraspaw also saved Leopardpaw," meowed Midnightstar, "but Bluepaw and Sassafraspaw aren't done with their training. However, we will still honor them."

"Goldensun! Bluepaw! Sassafraspaw!" The Clan chanted. I lifted my head high with joy.

"Leopardpaw and Silverpaw," meowed Midnightstar, "do you promise to honor the warrior code, and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"We do," they meowed excitedly.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior names. Silverpaw, from this moment on you shall be known as Silvermoon. StarClan honors your energy and intelligence, and we welcome you as a full warrior of RainClan. Leopardpaw, from this moment on you shall be known as Leopardheart. StarClan honors your loyalty and courage, and we welcome you as a full warrior of RainClan. Serve your Clan well."

"Silvermoon! Leopardheart!" I yowled happily.

"And also, Sassafraspaw is now retiring to the nursery," said Midnightstar. "Her kits are due in a moon."

A gasp came from the ex-ThunderClan cats. They clearly hadn't known before that Sassafraspaw was expecting kits. Many looked at her with disapproval, just because she was an apprentice. _Hey, lay off of her_ , I thought angrily. _She's my friend._

Leopardheart came running down. "I got my warrior name!" she shouted. "It sounds awesome, don't you think?"

"It's great but mine's better," Silvermoon replied.

"Hey!"

I purred in amusement. But then I turned around as I hear Willowbranch come behind me.

"I've got news for you," she meowed. "I don't want you to be my apprentice anymore."

I gasped. What had I done wrong?

"You fish-brain," purred Silvermoon. "She means that you're going to become a full medicine cat."

I leapt up and down excitedly. "Great StarClan! I can't wait!"

Willowbranch laughed. "You and I will go at the half-moon," she meowed. "It's tomorrow."

I climbed into my nest, which was made extra-soft as a reward. I couldn't wait until the half-moon. What would my name be? Bluemoon? Bluefrost? Maybe even Blueheart? Well, whatever it was, I knew that Willowbranch would pick something good.

I slept soundly, not even noticing as Willowbranch came in to nuzzle my cheek.

 _The next day_

I ran ahead of Willowbranch and Oakleaf, excited for my ceremony. I couldn't wait to become a full medicine cat!

"Bluepaw!" said Willowbranch sternly. "Don't run ahead. You'll get separated."

"Sorry," I meowed. Oakleaf laughed.

"I'm sure you strayed away from your mentor when you got your full name," he meowed."

We finally reached the Moonpool. Mist hung over the water, and the stars glittered on the surface.

I started to run towards the water, but Willowbranch stopped me. "We need to find Pineshade and Mapleleaf," she meowed.

"Are they coming?" I asked.

"I don't know," meowed Oakleaf. "Maybe Flowerstar doesn't want them to tell us anything."

"But we're medicine cats," I protested. "We're bound by code not to pick sides. We belong to all Clans, not our birth one"…

My voice trailed off as Willowbranch shot me a stern look. "That's not how Flowerstar looks at it."

We waited until moonhigh, but they still hadn't come.

"Let's just have the ceremony," said Oakleaf, sighing.

Willowbranch sat down to face me. "I, Willowbranch, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of a medicine cat, and with your help he will serve the Clans for many moons. Bluepaw, do you promise to uphold the unique code for the medicine cats, to stand apart from rivalry between Clan and Clan and to protect all Clans equally, even at the cost of your life?

"I do," I replied.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your name as a medicine cat. Bluepaw, from this moment you will be known as Bluemist. StarClan honors your kindness and enthusiasm, and we welcome you as a full medicine cat."

"Bluemist! Bluemist!" Oakleaf and Willowbranch chanted. I grinned. My name was the best! I couldn't wait to tell Sassafraspaw about this.

Now it was time to dream. Smiling, I turned to the water and dove in, waiting to be embraced by StarClan.

* * *

 **Oh, and in case you all were wondering, I changed the rating. It is now 'T' instead of 'M'.**


	20. Chapter 16: The Dead of the Night

**This chapter is one of my favorites. Warning, if you do not like suicide, DO NOT READ THIS!**

* * *

CHAPTER 16: THE DEAD OF THE NIGHT

Sassafraspaw's POV

I hated this. All of the secrecy, the lies, and my silence seemed to haunt me every day. It was pulling me down far more than anything else ever has.

But I would lose Bluemist if I told him. He was my friend now, but he'd hate me forever if I told him.

Suddenly I couldn't bear it anymore. I climbed out of my nest and walked out of the camp. I hated my life of lies and mistrust. I just couldn't go on anymore.

 _I'm sorry Bluemist_ , I thought sadly. _But I must do this._

I set off at a determined pace. Some ThunderClan warriors had shown me the cliff in their territory. That was where I was going now.

In a short amount of time, it would all be over.

* * *

Bluemist's POV

I was awoken by a noise. _What is going on?_ I thought. I climbed out of my nest and walked out to the camp.

I saw a small figure walking into the moonlight. I blinked as I saw it leave camp. _Who is that?_ I thought. _We're not allowed to leave camp!_

At first I believed that it was Silvermoon. Feeling a flash of annoyance, I thought, _Well, that's just like her. Of course she's going to break the rules._ I was about to go back to my nest when a sudden realization struck me fully awake. It wasn't Silvermoon out there. It was Sassafraspaw!

I had to follow her. Silvermoon was mischief, and every cat knew that, but at least she wasn't stupid. There was no telling what Sassafraspaw would do out there alone. Considering the fact that no cat in their right mind would venture out in the middle of a freezing cold night, I had no doubts that Sassafraspaw was going to do something bad.

Heart racing, paws determined, I followed Sassafraspaw.

* * *

Sassafraspaw's POV

What was that? A rustle behind me? Was some cat following me?

"Come back!" I head Bluemist's voice ring out, and I froze, dismay ruffling my pelt. I thought that I wouldn't be discovered! And why did it have to be Bluemist, of all cats? He'd only try to stop me! Dismay turned into annoyance. Why couldn't he mind his own business? Why did he have to make it any harder than it already was?

"Get a grip, Sassafraspaw," I muttered to myself. "Why do you need to be so scared? It's only Bluemist! And don't forget, you can run really fast. He'll never catch up to you."

Then I ran, ignoring his cries. I raced away and I finally stopped hearing the tom's voice.

 _Good_ , I thought. _I lost him._

* * *

Bluemist's POV

Oh great. I lost her.

A clap of thunder echoed in the air, and rain started to stream down. I angrily shook it off. I usually don't mind rain, but not when I'm in the middle of something important! Now I'd not only lost her; now her scent was masked up.

I set off at an even faster pace, thinking about all of the horrible things that had happened in the span of a few short moons. Two brothers had died within the same few days, three cats had died from a combination of FlowerClan and starvation, Leopardheart's life had been threatened not once, but twice, and Silvermoon had lost all faith in her former mate. And now this.

What a lovely existence.

* * *

Sassafraspaw's POV

Almost there. I could hear the rustling of the streams far, far below. A sudden flash of lightning captured the beauty of the water. It was time.

I took a deep breath as I looked down to the bottom of the gorge. This was it. This was where it ended. I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling the earth one last time.

"Sassafraspaw!" I heard a voice, and I froze as Bluemist appeared behind me. "There you are! What are you doing here?"

* * *

Bluemist's POV

I called out to Sassafraspaw as I saw her by the cliff's edge. What in StarClan's name was she doing here? She looked at me mutely, and then stared down into the depths of the stream. The look said it all. My eyes widened as I realized what she was going to do.

"No, _don't_!" I screamed. "Sassafraspaw, you can't do this. RainClan needs you! _I_ need you!"

Suddenly my friend broke down sobbing. She lay right at the cliff's edge, crying her eyes out. It was a horrible sight. Tears were flowing out – or was it the rainwater? I couldn't tell – all the way down, into the gorge, and I saw them fall all the way into the streams at the bottom. Around us, the sky seemed to be grieving as well, and StarClan was crying along with her, for whatever secret she had held for so long.

Now that I realized it, I hadn't seen her cry for a long time. She hadn't cried once ever since Sandfur died.

"I can't bear it anymore," she sobbed. "I've been keeping a secret for so long."

I knew it. This was the only reason why she would be in this state. And now, I needed to help her. As the thunder boomed behind me, I knew this was it. She was now ready to reveal it, and I would bear its burden along with her, no matter how heavy the weight was.

"You can tell me _anything_ ," I told her. "Please." Our eyes locked together, and hesitantly, Sassafraspaw dragged herself away from the cliff's edge. In that moment, I knew that she trusted me. I knew that she would tell me. I braced myself.

"Bluemist, Sandfur didn't die in a rockslide," she wailed. "He was _murdered_."

"What?" I asked in alarm. "How would you know that?"

"I'll tell you how," said Sassafraspaw, her voice barely more than a whisper now. It was so quiet that I wouldn't have been able to hear it if the thunder had clapped at the exact same moment she said the words. Leaning forwards to wash her pelt, I listened intently as she said the words she hadn't been able to tell for so long. "I did it. I was the one who killed him."

* * *

 **Dun dun DUN!**

 **Reasons for why Purpleflower killed Darkshadow and why Sassafraspaw murdered Sandfur will come out later.**

 **QOTD:** **Did any of you see this coming?**


	21. Chapter 17: The Mist Starts to Clear

**Hello, guys! I know that I said that this was on hiatus (is that how you spell it?). Well, I lied. I am going to do that, but only after I'm done posting this. So sorry about all of the confusion, guys.**

 **And thank you so much for those lovely reviews! Please keep reviewing guys - we authors appreciate those reviews more than you think! They are WAYYY more valuable than a follow or even a fav.**

 **Review replies:**

 **XxBloodoftheMoonxX:** **Bluepaw reminds you of yourself? Then you must be a very nice person. And I can't say I disagree with you on the desserts. And as for your submission, I said that if you are a member of FanFiction, you are supposed to PM it to me. Considering that you are the first person to send me an OC, I will let it slide. But if you want to send me another OC, please PM it, okay? Thanks. Also, about Ravenwing. It is impossible for cats to be odd-eyed (have two eye colors) unless they are mostly/fully white. Either you have to make Ravenwing mostly/fully white, or choose between amber or green. Can you please decide for me and let me know? Thanks.**

 **ASPENTAIL:** **Yes, you are right. This is a remake of String of Pearly's story, _The Sound of Snow_. I'm not clever enough to think of such a genius plotline on my own!**

* * *

CHAPTER 17: THE MIST STARTS TO CLEAR

Leopardheart's POV

That morning, I was sitting in the warriors' den with my sister, grooming her pelt to perfection.

Suddenly I saw Bluemist and Sassafraspaw come in, frowning.

"Leopardheart and Silvermoon," said Bluemist, "we have some very important news for you. First of all, I found out that Sassafraspaw actually can talk."

"Yes," said Sassafraspaw shyly. I stared at her. She had such a beautiful and deep voice. I had forgotten it within the past few moons.

"And also, we found out something important about Sandfur," said Bluemist. "Sassafraspaw killed Sandfur."

I was shocked. Not Sandfur! "Why?" I asked furiously.

"I'm expecting kits, right?" she asked. I nodded. "Well, Sandfur forced me to have them. They're his kits."

Silvermoon stood, furious. "How dare he?" she seethed. "Why did he want kits so much anyways?"

"He wanted to hurt me just because I'm not Clanborn," Sassafraspaw replied. "Hopefully, Sandfur is in the Dark Forest right now, so we don't need to worry about him."

"Oh, StarClan," I gasped. "Tell us the whole story."

* * *

Sassafraspaw's POV

 _Flashback (3 moons ago)_

 _Sassafraspaw walked by the horseplace. She knew that she wasn't allowed outside after dark, but she felt like it._

 _Suddenly, a loud noise made her jump. Sandfur was standing in front of her. "Hi Sassafraspaw," he whispered._

 _"_ _Oh, hi," said Sassafraspaw, kicking over a pebble. She had been caught! Darn it!_

 _"_ _I won't tell on you," said Sandfur, smiling, "if you do me a favor."_

 _"_ _What is it?" Sassafraspaw asked eagerly. She could do anything! She was so grateful that Sandfur wasn't getting her into trouble, she would –_

 _– "_ _I want you to have my kits," the cream-colored tom meowed._

 _Sassafraspaw stared. "What? I'm an apprentice! I can't have kits!"_

 _"_ _Too bad," replied Sandfur._

 _"_ _Why do you need them?" Sassafraspaw gasped as he shoved her to the ground._

 _"_ _I don't care. I just want to make you suffer!" The tom's amber eyes flashed venomously._

 _"_ _What did I ever do to you?" Sassafraspaw pleaded as the warrior began to claw her flank._

 _"_ _You're a rouge!" he hissed. "You've got filthy breeding. Rouges don't belong in my Clan. Do you know what a rouge did to me?"_

 _"_ _What?" asked Sassafraspaw, rolling over to dodge his teeth._

 _"_ _A rouge forced my mother to have his kits!" he shrieked. "And those kits happen to be me and my brother! That means that I'm half-Clan!"_

 _"_ _But what does that have to do with me?" asked Sassafraspaw, as she began to cry._

 _"_ _Well," Sandfur replied, "this proves that all rouges are evil! And I'm punishing you because you're like all of them! You're just a filthy rouge!"_

 _Immediately, Sassafraspaw decided that she had enough. "It's not my fault!" she cried. "Not all cats outside the Clans are evil."_

 _"_ _Well, yeah," replied Sandfur, sniggering. "Kittypets and loners aren't a problem. It's the rouges that I'm against."_

 _Sassafraspaw swiped a paw at him, but he lazily dodged. "You're going to have to try harder than that, rouge," he sneered._

 _Sassafraspaw rolled from under Sandfur and ran, faster than Sandfur could reach her. A heap of rocks was nearby. Sassafraspaw climbed them so that Sandfur could never reach her._

 _"_ _Think I can't reach you up there?" asked Sandfur. Sassafraspaw's eyes were on fire._

 _"_ _Well, you can't, because you're_ dead _!" she roared, and kicked the rocks, aiming at his head. Sandfur's eyes widened, and he struggled to dodge the rockslide, but Sassafraspaw kicked more rocks down and they buried the warrior until his cream fur wasn't visible anymore. After a while, Sassafraspaw went down to check on the tom._

 _His legs were broken, but he was still breathing. Sassafraspaw grimaced, and did something that she had sworn never to do._

 _"_ _Goodbye, Sandfur," she whispered sorrowfully, and reached over, cleanly snapping his neck._

 _End of Flashback_

* * *

Leopardheart's POV

"You did the right thing," I meowed instantly as soon as the story was over.

"That tom has problems," said Silvermoon angrily. "If he weren't already dead I would kill him."

"Sassafraspaw, you're not the only cat with secrets," said Silvermoon suddenly. "Purpleflower murdered Darkshadow."

I stopped and stared at her. "What?"

"Purpleflower told me," she said. "And she threatened to tell about my relationship with Wildwater if I told on her. Leopardheart, Purpleflower _did_ betray Darkshadow. She had a mate from another Clan, and when Darkshadow found out, she killed him – probably because she didn't want him to tell anyone her secret."

"You had a relationship with Wildwater?" I asked.

"Well, I did," she admitted. "But he threatened to kill me, so that relationship kinda ended."

"But since you aren't with Wildwater anymore, nothing is stopping you from telling everyone," I pointed out.

"Who would believe us?" she asked.

"We'll tell everyone at the Gathering, which is a half-moon away," said Bluemist. "I'm sure we'll be invited, because we rescued Leopardheart."

"I might not be allowed to come," I pointed out. "Midnightstar probably doesn't want me to go anywhere near Flowerstar."

"Well, we'll tell you about it," said Silvermoon.

We stood there talking, and planning out what was to happen.

* * *

 **Next up, you will hear Sandfur's side of the story.**


	22. Special Chapter: Sandfur's Legacy

**As for OCs, i just need 2 more kits. Everything else is open.**

* * *

SPECIAL CHAPTER: SANDFUR'S LEGACY

Sandfur's POV

I kicked over a pebble, but that didn't fully vent out my frustration. It didn't change the fact that I was stuck in the Dark Forest _every single day_. Yuck.

I didn't _deserve_ the Dark Forest. What had I done wrong anyways? Sure, I forced two defenseless cats to become pregnant, but so what? They deserved it. Willowbranch because she is a lame excuse for a medicine cat, and Sassafraspaw because she was a _rouge_. A filthy, disgusting, crow-food eating rouge.

Don't listen to everything Sassafraspaw says. I will tell you what happened to me, and maybe you might sympathize with me and even come to the realization that Sassafraspaw was in the wrong.

There's always two sides to a story.

I was a proud, strong, RiverClan apprentice. I loved my Clan more than anything and was firmly committed to the warrior code **(*cough* Hollyleaf *cough*)**. But nothing could prepare me for what happened next.

So one stormy day, my mother called me and my brother to her side. We were alone in the forest, and she had something very important to tell us. Something that changed my life.

 _"_ _Sandpaw, Darkpaw, I have very important news for you," my mother, Pinkflower, a white, albino she-cat with rare pink eyes, said._

 _I listened intently, sharpening my claws while she spoke._

 _"_ _I'm so sorry," she said, "that you two could never grow up with a father. I will tell you why you never had one. You are both apprentice age, and you're old enough to understand the truth._

 _"_ _I never had a mate, simply because I didn't like any of the toms in my Clan. But one day, I met a rouge on the other side of the stream. I swam across to tell him to get out of our territory, and he… he"…_

 _… "_ _You fell in love?" Darkpaw asked with a dreamy expression on his face. I could tell that he was thinking about Purplepaw, the RiverClan apprentice he was heads-over-paws in love with._

 _"_ _No!" I screamed. "Don't tell me you fell in love! It's against the warrior code!" My eyes bore into hers. "Don't tell me that we're half-Clan!"_

 _"_ _I didn't fall in love with him," Pinkflower said. "It is much worse than that."_

 _"_ _Then how did you get us?" Darkpaw asked, confused._

 _"_ _Well, this tom was miserable," she said. "When I told him to get lost, he just laughed in my face. He wanted kits, so he forced them upon me." She looked at us sadly. "And those kits are – you."_

 _I stared. "WHAT!" I screamed. "Does this mean that we're – HALF-CLAN?"_

 _"_ _I'm afraid so," she said sadly. "But I still love you both. I don't care."_

But _I_ cared. From that day on, I vowed revenge. Darkpaw was upset, but soon got over it. But I was furious. _No_ cat harms my mother and gets away with it.

I developed a hatred for all rouges. They are just evil losers that don't have anything better to do than to harm the Clans. So, years later, I got my revenge on all rouges. I forced kits upon Willowbranch. The purpose of this was getting practice for my actual target. By the time I got to Sassafraspaw, I'd be an expert at this. A young she-cat saw me attempt to kill Willowbranch, so I killed her. That way she couldn't tell the Clans.

Then about a year later, I finally got the chance. Sassafraspaw and I were finally alone, one night, and she was the perfect age to have kits. So that night, I struck. She needed to be punished for everything that her kind had done to my mother. So I decided to give her a taste of her kind's medicine. Unfortunately, Sassafraspaw isn't as scared and shy as she appears. She's also a very feisty she-cat. Out of panic, she battered me with rocks and killed me. The fact that she killed me proves that she's evil. I tried to tell the StarClan council that, but they threw me to the Dark Forest anyways.

And that is why I am here today.

* * *

 **This chapter kinda sucks, but whatever. I felt that I really needed a chapter to explain Sandfur.**

 **Up next...**

 **\- We have a very... _eventful_ Gathering.**

 **\- Goldensun does something that he hates himself for.**

 **\- Willowbranch leaves the Clans.**

 **Enough to keep you in suspense, right? Now, for the QOTD and AOTD!**

 **AOTD:** **My favorite band is Evanescence. They have the best songs ever. No really, go check them out. My favorite song is Hello by Evanescence.**

 **QOTD 1:** **Do you think that what Sassafraspaw did is justified?**

 **QOTD** **2:** **What songs do you think describe the characters in the story?**


	23. Chapter 18: The Gathering

**Well, here is the eventful Gathering I promised y'all!**

* * *

CHAPTER 18: THE GATHERING

 _That night_

Darkshadow's POV

 _"_ _Goldensun," I greeted the tom. "There is a very important job you must do."_

 _This was the reason why I chose him. He was just hungry for power, and he always wanted to be admired. My son had always wanted to be part of a prophecy, and now when I told him that he could get power, he jumped at the chance._

 _Soon, it would all be over, and my revenge would be satisfied. The three cats that I hated would be dead._

 _"_ _You should know that I didn't die just because I slipped off into the lake," I told Goldensun. "Goldensun, Purpleflower killed me."_

 _He looked confused. "But you told Bluemist that you did slip and fall," he meowed._

 _Okay, maybe he wasn't as stupid as I thought._

 _"_ _I wasn't ready for revenge," I answered._

 _He stared at me, eyes wide._

 _"_ _Your job is to bring her to justice and announce it at the Gathering. Understood?"_

 _"_ _But I'm confused," meowed Goldensun. "Why didn't StarClan do something about it?"_

 _"_ _They let me carry on with my idea for revenge," I replied. "They approved of it." My voice went to a pleading tone. "Please, Goldensun. Do it."_

 _"_ _All right," he said._

 _I smiled. "You will be remembered as one of RiverClan's greatest warriors. Well done, Goldensun."_

 _I licked the top of his head, and then let him fade away to wake up._

* * *

 _Present-time_

Silvermoon's POV

Leopardheart was chosen for the Gathering after all. I also came, as well as Bluemist, Goldensun, and Sassafraspaw.

The leaders had decided that the willow would represent RainClan, so Midnightstar and Foxstar climbed the willow tree. Our whole Clan gathered around in. Flowerstar had climbed the maple tree and her Clan was gathered around that. There were two Clans now, and three leaders.

I waited in anticipation for telling everyone. I was nervous, but also impatient. Purpleflower couldn't be trusted to stay in RainClan any longer. She had to be driven out.

I sat down at my place, waiting as Midnightstar made her announcements. I was about to talk. I opened my jaws, ready to tell the truth about Sandfur and Purpleflower – but Goldensun spoke first.

"Purpleflower murdered Darkshadow."

* * *

Purpleflower's POV

"Purpleflower murdered Darkshadow."

I couldn't believe it. My secret, which I thought that I had finally managed to conceal, was now revealed.

How did he know? Did Silvermoon tell him? That was what I thought was the logical explanation. But when I looked over at her, she had a stunned expression on her face. So she didn't tell.

"I don't believe it." Midnightstar was furious. "How dare you? You have no right to say that about your Clanmate! You liar!"

"It is true!" cried Goldensun, looking around desperately for support. "I – I can prove it!"

"Midnightstar, might I suggest an appropriate, er, punishment for him?" Flowerstar cut in smoothly.

Midnightstar glared at her, a look of intense hatred on her face.

"Mind your own business," she said harshly. "Can't you see I have enough to deal with here?"

"And as for you," she added, turning back to Goldensun, "this behavior is unacceptable. I will not tolerate it! You can clean out the elders' den for a moon!"

"Midnightstar," said Flowerstar again, "that is a little too" –

– "SHUT UP FLOWERSTAR!" screamed Midnightstar is such a loud voice that everyone fell silent. She turned back to Goldensun. "I suggest you leave before I make your punishment worse than it already is."

"No, wait." I saw Silvermoon standing up. "What Goldensun says is true. Purpleflower herself told me."

Total silence. Every single cat's eye was upon me as I looked around, my throat dry. Goldensun and Silvermoon looked shocked, Leopardheart and Bluemist disappointed – in me.

Finally Midnightstar spoke. "Purpleflower, is this true?"

This was it. I couldn't keep a secret any longer. Knowing that it was time for the truth to come out, I lowered my head and nodded.

"You killed your own _Clanmate_ ," growled Midnightstar. "Purpleflower, get out! You are no longer a part of the Clans. You have until dawn to leave the Clan borders, and then you will be treated as an enemy."

My legs buckled and I fell to the ground, my oversized belly hitting with a _thud_. I was banished. I prayed to StarClan that when I opened my eyes, I'd find that it was all a dream.

I looked up. The island was still there. My Clanmates gazed at me, shock and disbelief in their eyes.

"Have you anything to say for yourself?" snarled Midnightstar.

I met the leader's gaze boldly. "I did it because I loved my kits," I said.

"What utter crap," Midnightstar snorted. "That is enough."

"No, what she says is true."

I looked up to see Whitetail, who had been my mate. Never before had I been so glad to see him.

Willowbranch also got up. "Blame me. Purpleflower did it to protect me."

Midnightstar's eyes were flashing. "You still haven't explained why you killed him."

"I'm getting there," I replied impatiently. "The night Darkshadow asked me to be his mate, I couldn't hurt his feelings and turn him down, so I accepted. I kept the secret for four years, until Darkshadow caught me with Whitetail just recently. He was going to kill my kits as soon as they were born because he was so jealous.

"So I had no choice," I meowed. "And I know that I should never have betrayed Darkshadow, or even been with Whitetail in the first place. And I'm sorry for that. But believe me, I don't regret killing him. If I hadn't, my kits would be sent to StarClan before they had even opened their eyes. I'm sure that every mother _and_ father here understands what I'm talking about."

There was a silence. I scanned the faces of every cat. Lightfoot looked understanding, Dustyfur looked sympathetic, and even Sassafraspaw looked grateful to me.

"Midnightstar," I added, "you wouldn't understand. You don't have your own kits. But if you did, I'm sure you would even kill if you needed to defend them."

"That is the most shameful pack of lies I have ever heard anyone spin," Midnightstar snarled. "You're words aren't going to change my verdict. If you don't leave this instant, I will kill you right here, in front of everyone."

In terror I fled from the Gathering, onto the fallen tree and to the end. I was going to escape Clan territory.

Suddenly I felt someone coming besides me. It was Willowbranch. "I'm coming with you," she meowed fiercely. "You need someone to help take care of your kits."

"Thanks so much," I meowed gratefully. My sister smiled at me.

The two of us padded silently into the woods.


	24. Chapter 19: Battle of the Full Moon

**Fortunately for you guys, the eventful Gathering isn't over yet. There are still some things we haven't touched upon.**

 **Oh, and by the way, I deleted the second author's note. It's just too confusing.**

* * *

CHAPTER 19: BATTLE OF THE FULL-MOON

Sassafraspaw's POV

Everyone was silent for a long time.

I glanced over at Bluemist, who smiled nervously back. We seemed to be sharing the same thoughts: what happened?

How did Goldensun know? Where did he find out? How did he know stuff that Bluemist, Leopardheart, Silvermoon, and I didn't know? How many _more_ secrets could this Clan hold?

Willowbranch had decided to go with Purpleflower, which was just great. Now we had lost a medicine cat. Sure, Bluemist was well-trained and everything, but still.

Finally, after what felt like moons, some cat spoke.

"Well, well, well."

If was Flowerstar. Flowerstar looked down on us and smiled at Midnightstar. "Wasn't that a show? I think we all enjoyed it."

"Shut _up_ Flowerstar," growled Silvermoon.

"It's not your place to speak up at a Gathering, you kit," Flowerstar replied. Silvermoon growled in fury, and I shot her a sympathetic look.

"You _still_ haven't joined your Clan with me." She looked at Midnightstar and Foxstar with annoyance. "Instead you have all allied to make some _resistance_ against me. Not like it will help, because your Clan is so small anyways."

It was true, I realized. Our Clan was very small.

"You have a chance," she meowed. "Unite or fight. If you choose to fight, many more deaths will occur. And it will be all your fault."

"Don't you _dare_ make that threat"… Midnightstar snarled, but Foxstar cut her off.

"Midnightstar, we shouldn't risk any more lives," Foxstar meowed. "We should give in."

Flowerstar smiled valiantly, and I knew that this was the end of RainClan.

But then Midnightstar growled. "Never."

Flowerstar frowned. "What did you say, Midnightstar?"

"I said, never," she replied. "If you think that I won't die fighting for my Clan then you're wrong. I care about it more than anything. Look up at the sky." The moon was covered in dark, stormy clouds. "StarClan is angry with you, and they are on my side. So they will not let you win."

At that moment, it started to rain.

"Well, then," said Flowerstar, "Attack."

The place was filled with cats fighting. I spotted Bluemist sitting with Oakbranch and desperately trying to heal his Clanmates. I ran over to help him.

"What should I do?" I yelled.

"Place cobwebs on his wounds!" he yelled back.

I placed the cobweb on Stonetooth's fur, but it was too late. His eyes went blank and he lay very still.

"Bluemist," I screamed, "Stonetooth is dead!"

"Oh StarClan," breathed Bluemist.

Suddenly there came a screech. I saw Leopardheart holding Flamingfur.

"No!" Silvermoon came running. I saw, with a shock, that their father was dead.

"Oh, StarClan," wailed Bluemist.

That night, two more lay dead in the snow – Raincloud and Lightfoot. Now RiverClan had only five warriors left total, if you counted the leader and deputy. We were officially dead.

Suddenly, a screech rebounded across the clearing.

Midnightstar was glaring at Flowerstar. "You killed her!" she shrieked. "My deputy! Featherfur was so young! How dare you!"

A moment later, I heard the sound of Silvermoon fainting.

"You killed my mate and my deputy," growled Midnightstar, "as well as so many senior warriors."

"Five cats, to be exact," purred Flowerstar. "Well, I did tell you that there would be more deaths if this continued. Technically it's _your_ fault."

Midnightstar didn't answer, just kept her head down, for the first time, she looked absolutely and utterly defeated. She glanced at Foxstar, and he nodded.

"Yes, Flowerstar," she meowed at last. "We will join FlowerClan."

"Excellent," meowed Flowerstar at once, beaming. "A great era has now begun – of power and greatness. There is now only one Clan, under my rule. Is that right, Fox _foot_? And you, Midnight _light_?"

Midnightlight nodded, her eyes still on fire.

"Then let us go," announced Flowerstar, beaming. Silently, we left the clearing and out to WindClan's camp.

When we reached the camp, I let out a sudden screech and tumbled to the ground, my belly on fire.

"What is wrong with you?" Flowerstar bellowed.

"The kits are coming!"

* * *

 **Finally, Sassafraspaw's kits!**

 **AOTD 1:** **Well, yes. Sandfur kinda deserved what he got.**

 **AOTD 2:** **I actually have a list of songs. Here we are:**

 **Solitude by Evanescence - Darkshadow**

 **Everybody's Fool by Evanescence - Goldensun (You'll find out why in two chapters)**

 **Give Unto Me by Evanescence - Bluemist**

 **Love Life by He is We - Silvermoon**

 **Forgive Me by Evanescence - Wildwater**


	25. Chapter 20: Sassafraspaw's Kits

**This chapter is not all that interesting. So, to make it up to you guys, the chappie after this is nice and long. Like that?**

 **Review reply:**

 **BRUH:** **I didn't think that everyone hated Ashfur. I thought that there were lots of Ashfur fans out there. Oops, I didn't mean for Goldensun to be able to see other cats' expressions. That was a mistake. Thanks for pointing that out, I'll try harder to prevent that in the future. Writing from the perspective of a blind character can be very trying. And yeah, Goldensun is a pretty interesting character. In the earlier chapters, I didn't like him all too much, but now I'm not so sure.**

* * *

CHAPTER 20: SASSAFRASPAW'S KITS

Sassafraspaw's POV

Immediately, Bluemist and Goldensun had carried me to the medicine den. I lay down on the floor and yelped with pain.

"Take this," said Mapleleaf, the WindClan medicine cat, and I felt a stick being pressed into my jaws. "Bite down hard."

I groaned, and then rested my head back as Leopardheart and Silvermoon smoothed my fur.

"Comfort her," Mapleleaf said to Goldensun, Leopardheart, and Silvermoon. "Bluemist, you are my helper. Give me whatever herbs I ask for."

Bluemist nodded, his eyes fixed on me.

It was a very painful birth. I screamed every time a spasm hit me. Even the thyme leaves would not calm me down. It just hurt too much, even though I had the stick.

"Water," Mapleleaf hissed to Leopardheart, and Leopardheart ran out. Mapleleaf looked into my eyes. "You're going to be fine."

"She's bleeding!" Goldensun cried as Leopardheart came back with the water.

I gratefully lapped up the soaked moss while Bluemist was instructed to give me raspberry leaves and juniper. Apparently, raspberry leaves are supposed to prevent bleeding, and juniper berries provide strength. I nearly spat out the juniper, because it was so bitter.

The kit finally came out, and Bluemist took it to be washed. "She-cat or tom?" I asked.

"It's a tom," replied Bluemist.

"What are you going to name him?" Leopardheart asked.

The tom was black-and-gold. He had a white chest and paws. Looking at this, I knew exactly what to call him.

"Flamekit," I decided.

At that moment, Flowerstar had to come in. "Are the kits born yet?" she asked with a bored expression on her face.

"A tom," Mapleleaf replied.

Flowerstar looked at the kit with disgust. "Ugh. I bet you called him Plainkit," she sneered as she walked away.

"Don't let her get to you," Bluemist whispered. "Your kit is really handsome."

I nodded and curled myself around Flamekit. After all that had happened, I had given birth to a kit, and that was all that mattered.


	26. Chapter 21: A Sudden Mistrust

**LONG CHAPPIE! I LOVE LONG CHAPPIES!**

* * *

CHAPTER 21: A SUDDEN MISTRUST

Goldensun's POV

That night, Flowerstar called a Clan meeting.

"There will be some rules," she announced. "Apprentices that aren't from WindClan are in charge of making nests for the pure WindClan cats every three days. No non-WindClan cat may leave the camp without a WindClan warrior escort of my choosing. WindClan cats will be fed first, then ShadowClan, and last, this so-called RainClan." She smiled smugly.

"Now go to sleep," she said, grinning.

I growled and headed my way to the warriors' den. But as I was walking, I heard a loud voice.

"And where exactly do you think that _you're_ going?"

I whirled around to see Flowerstar standing in front of me. "I'm going to the warriors' den. You just said to go to sleep," I said boldly. I hoped that I sounded braver than I felt.

"Oh no you don't," she laughed. "All non-WindClan cats sleep outside. There just isn't enough room."

"Why you little"… I felt furious. How dare she! It was _cold_ outside, and I would have to sleep against the _snow_. I _hate_ snow.

"You'd better listen as she says." I saw Leopardheart coming up beside me. "She'll claw off your ears if you don't."

"But… but"… I started.

"Now _there's_ a cat that's talking sense," Flowerstar trilled. Her voice then became dangerously soft. "I suggest you sleep with your Clanmates, or you'll find yourself in trouble," she warned me.

I hissed and stomped away, towards what I will refer to as the warriors' field. "Why didn't you back me up?" I snarled at Leopardheart. "I was only standing up for our rights!"

"We've lost the war," Leopardheart said, her voice hollow. "There's no point fighting any longer. We might as well get used to this."

"How can you say that?" Silvermoon asked. "We have to keep believing! If we put our minds to it, we can solve anything!"

Leopardheart laughed a bitter, humorless laugh. "Just like you, Silvermoon. Always so bright and optimistic. You think that the world is so simple. You think that we can win any battle. Well, I've got news for you. We can't win this one."

"And you're such a pessimist that you can't ever see the bright side of things!" Silvermoon shot back.

"There _is_ no bright side!" Leopardheart snarled. "Face it. We're doomed. The sooner we accept that, the better."

"How can you be so heartless?" I snapped. "I'm with Silvermoon. We can't just stick with Flowerstar just because she's so powerful and in charge. We have to _fight_! We're warriors. We don't just give up! Quitting is for kits."

"Are you saying that you want to start a rebellion?" Sassafraspaw suddenly joined in. "Well, if so, you can count me out. I'm not going to endanger Flamekit's safety to fight a pointless battle that we have no point in winning."

"I glad that someone can see sense," Leopardheart said to Sassafraspaw.

"Hang on," Sassafraspaw interrupted. "I'm not siding with you, Leopardheart. I fully support Goldensun's idea of a rebellion. I just don't think that now is the right time."

And with that, the conversation ended. There simply was nothing to do but to sleep. My eyes were closing and I had only just realized how tired I was. Fighting back a huge yawn, I turned around and walked towards' the toms' side of the warriors' field.

I closed my eyes and waited impatiently for sleep. I was going to get some answers from Darkshadow.

 _Soon I was back in the all-too familiar field of golden pansies. Just a moon ago, this place felt like paradise. But now, I felt trapped._

 _I thought of Purpleflower's story about why she had killed Darkshadow. He had threatened to kill her kits._

 _But Darkshadow… he told me otherwise. He told me that Purpleflower was evil, and had to be rid of. And I had believed him._

 _Now who should I believe?_

 _"_ _Well done, Goldensun!" I heard a voice._

 _Darkshadow was grinning widely at me. Irritation bubbled up inside of me._

 _"_ _You did it!" he beamed. "Now we will move on to the next stage of the plan. It is time to kill Bluemist."_

 _"_ _Oh, I don't think so," I meowed with gritted teeth._

 _Darkshadow frowned – the same frown that Flowerstar had on her face at the Gathering, I realized._

 _"_ _What do you mean, Goldensun?" he asked in the exact same tone that Flowerstar had directed at Midnightstar at the Gathering. "I know that he's your brother and all, but we've discussed this, right? He'll destroy the Clans."_

 _"_ _Listen up, you jerk," I meowed, "you must either be telling the truth – which I highly doubt – or a really good actor. And trust me, that is not a compliment. Tell me, what could Bluemist possibly do to the Clans? Why did he come to help save Leopardheart if he's so evil? And why didn't the rest of StarClan validate the prophecy with me?"_

 _"_ _It has been validated by StarClan," he protested. "Look, you can't argue with the facts. Besides, Purpleflower is the sister of Willowbranch, who is a murderer_ herself _"…_

 _"_ _And that's another thing," I added. "I sincerely doubt that Willowbranch ever killed any cat. Waterkit's death was probably an_ accident _, and you're too stupid to understand that."_

 _Darkshadow's eyes glinted dangerously, and I knew I had gone too far. But I didn't care._

 _"_ _You have some_ nerve _to accuse me, your own_ father _, of lying," he snarled. "Answer this: why would I_ possibly _want to make up a prophecy to get you to kill Bluemist? Wouldn't that be a lot of work for me? What could I gain from killing Bluemist? Give me one good reason."_

 _I frowned. He was right. Why would he want Bluemist dead?_

 _Then suddenly I realized something, and gasped._

 _It was only a theory, but if it were true…_

 _"_ _Let me wake up!" I yowled at him._

 _"_ _As you wish," he replied, and the world faded away._

I woke up to the cold tang of snow against my fur. I got up, shook the white powder off, and set off towards the exit with one thought in mind.

I had to find Willowbranch.

* * *

 **Everything will become clearer in the next chapters, like why Darkshadow wants Bluemist dead. That is, if you haven't figured everything out already.**


	27. Chapter 22: The Revenge Begins

**I got 14 reviews! Wahoo! Can we try to make it to 20 before I update? That would be great!**

 **And also, I know that some people get longer review replies than others. The length of your reply is based off of the length of your review. If you want a longer reply, write a longer review.**

 **XxBloodoftheMoonxX:** **Maybe, maybe not. We'll see!**

 **Snowfall16:** **Did you really think that Silverpaw's voice showed out? Yeah, she's such an imaginable character that it is almost as you can hear her voice, right? And as for you reading this along the way and just writing reviews, it's fine. You don't need to beta if you don't have the time. And you're right, I really should be writing longer chapters. Unfortunately, this was pre-written, but that means that I just need to edit it a lot more before I post it.**

 **BRUH:** **You're welcome! We're getting to a very intense part of the story, so it'd be a sin _not_ to update!**

* * *

CHAPTER 22: THE REVENGE BEGINS

Leopardheart's POV

The next morning, I woke up to someone screaming in my ear.

"Get _up_ you lazy furball! Whitetail called your name for the dawn patrol about five times!"

I woke up immediately to see Orangefoot glaring at me. "Sorry," I stammered, but anyways got a clawing on my pelt and a clout on the ear.

"Shut up! I don't care how sorry you are. You must still do your duty, and that is to serve your Clan. Now get up and go."

"Where's Goldensun?" Whitetail asked impatiently. "I called for him to go on hunting patrol."

We searched all around but couldn't find him.

"He's going to face a huge punishment once we find him," meowed a WindClan tom.

"Exactly," a WindClan she-cat added. "No cat defies Flowerstar and get away with it!"

During the hunting patrol, I was silent. Where had Goldensun gone?

When I came back with a skinny rabbit in my jaws, I gloomily passed it over to a WindClan queen who was impatiently awaiting her meal.

Flowerstar had made it clear that we not to be fed until we fed WindClan. She said that if we even got a scrap of food, we were lucky. The last time I had eaten, it had been yesterday morning. The WindClan cats gorged over half of the of the food, even if they didn't need it, the ShadowClan cats got a decent amount of food too, and the leftovers, if there were any, went to us.

At climbing-sun Flowerstar made an announcement.

"Goldensun is missing!" she yowled furiously. "I am sending out a patrol to find him." She listed a few names, all of whom were from WindClan or ShadowClan. "Now we will punish him most severely once we find him. And if I find any non-WindClan cat leaving without my permission, there will be even _more_ punishment."

She stalked off to join the patrol, looking furious.

"Leopardheart!" I heard Bluemist hiss. "Over here."

I followed him. Sassafraspaw and Silvermoon were standing there, worried looks on their face.

"We _must_ find Goldensun," said Bluemist with absolute certainty. "Only StarClan knows what they'll do if Flowerstar's patrol finds him first."

"Let's go after him," said Silvermoon.

"Um Silvermoon, just because you were an expert at sneaking out of the RiverClan camp doesn't mean that you know how to escape WindClan's," I pointed out.

"Actually, I _do_ know how to sneak out of WindClan's camp," Silvermoon replied. "I've been snooping around and I've found all of the hidden exits."

"I wouldn't put it past you," remarked Bluemist, which made everyone laugh.

"You can't come," I told Sassafraspaw. "You have to take care of Flamekit."

"Are you insane?" Sassafraspaw asked. "I'm coming. Goldensun is my mentor, and I don't want anything to happen to him." she added mischievously.

"But Flowerstar might hurt Flamekit while you're away!" Bluemist exclaimed.

"I'll take him with me then," Sassafraspaw decided.

"Follow me," said Silvermoon. We followed her as she reached a gorse bush. She told me to squeeze under it, and I did so. I gasped. There was a hidden tunnel!

"Let's go," meowed Bluemist. The four of us squeezed under and ran with the earth hugging our fur.

* * *

Darkshadow's POV

I growled as I continued through the field of flowers, snapping at a moth that had reached out at me.

Goldensun had been my son and then my apprentice. I thought I knew him better than any cat. And now he betrayed me.

He had accused me of lying, after all I did for him. I had been the only cat who had truly believe that his lack of sight didn't matter. I had helped him become a warrior. Correction: without me he wouldn't have become a warrior in the first place. And now he suspected me. The nerve of young cats these days.

Not that he had been wrong, of course. Of course I had just been using him. There had never been such a prophecy after all. And Bluemist's name wasn't even Bluefrost. It had been so blatantly obvious from the start, and only Goldensun's fierce ambition had blinded him to what was really going on.

He couldn't have figured everything out… could he?

I shrugged it off and smirked. Even if he had, I didn't need him anymore. I had other allies.

Like Sandfur.

He was my brother, and he was stuck in the Dark Forest. However, I found out that there is a way to reach him. We both found the tunnel that separated the Dark Forest and StarClan, and we planned on meeting tonight and collaborating together on ideas to kill Willowbranch, Purpleflower, and Bluemist.

I waited, holding my breath. Soon he would be here, and soon my revenge would be satisfied.

* * *

Sandfur's POV

I sped through the Dark Forest and soon reached the tunnel that bordered StarClan and the Dark Forest. As promised, Darkshadow was there. "Hello," I purred.

"So what were you going to tell me?" Darkshadow asked.

"You realize that we don't need to rely on living cats?" I asked. "We can cross into the living world ourselves."

My brother's eyes gleamed, and I wanted to smack him in the face. He's so stupid; he thinks that _he's_ using _me_. Doesn't he realize that it's the other way around?

"Certain magical effects can happen," I explained, "with a Dark Forest and a StarClan cat. We just need to enter someone's dream."

"Well, isn't that convenient?" Darkshadow purred. "I'm a StarClan cat, and you're from the Dark Forest."

"Then, with our powers, we can possess the cat and make them do whatever we want," I added. "You can make them kill Bluemist, Willowbranch, and Purpleflower, and I can make them kill Sassafraspaw."

Darkshadow's mouth watered, and I could tell he liked this idea. "But how will we get to the Dream Den without the rest of StarClan noticing you?" he asked.

"Easy," I replied. "We do it during the day, when StarClan is asleep. Then we'll go to the Dream Den."

"Meet me at climbing-sun here tomorrow," he said excitedly.

I put on a fake grin, chortling to myself as I ran away. He has no idea who he was plotting with. He has no idea who I am.

If he did, he would never be conspiring with me in the first place.

* * *

Darkshadow's POV

I grinned to myself as I headed away from the stream. Sandfur was the greatest. It was a pity that he was thrown in the Dark Forest. All he had done was to force Willowbranch to become pregnant, and she had certainly deserved it.

Wait… why exactly was he thrown there? I had never asked him. Surely what he had done couldn't be enough to get him exiled from StarClan... could it?

I shrugged. It didn't matter. I didn't know why he was considered evil, and I certainly didn't care. The important thing was that I was getting revenge.

"Darkshadow!" I froze as I heard a voice.

"Waterkit?" I asked, turning around. 'What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you," she said.

I followed my daughter to a meadow. "What is it you want to talk about?" I asked. "You can talk to me about anything. I'm your father."

"I want you to stop all of this scheming," she said bluntly.

I stared at her. How did she know?

"I don't know what you're planning," she meowed, "but I know it's something bad. You've got to forgive Willowbranch and Purpleflower, and move on.

"But Purpleflower _murdered_ me!" I protested.

"Well, to be fair, you _did_ threaten to kill her kits," she meowed.

I couldn't believe it. My own daughter was talking back to me. As if she even understood!

"And what about Willowbranch?" I asked. "Don't you remember? She killed you! Don't you see? I'm doing this all for you!" I paced nervously back and forth. "And if StarClan accepted me as one of their own, do you think that you have any right to defy them?" I challenged.

"If you really believe that, then you're a fool," said Waterkit. "If I have forgiven Willowbranch, there is no reason for you not to. I'm the reason why you're even holding the grudge in the first place. And StarClan doesn't know the full story either, so that's the only reason why you're here."

"Waterkit, you don't understand," I meowed, but she had enough.

"End this conspiracy now," she demanded.

"It's too late for that now," I replied.

Waterkit's eyes flashed angrily as she said, "Are you really going to throw away your relationship with me? Is it really worth it?" Her eyes were boring into mine now. "Think long and hard, Darkshadow. If you could just stop this scheming, then maybe I could forgive you. But since you won't stop plotting, I refuse to call you my father."

"Waterkit!" I screamed. "Wait!" But Waterkit had already vanished.

I bowed my head to the ground, wishing that I could end this. But it was too late now. The plan would go on.

Nothing could stop this now.

* * *

 **Up next:**

 **\- Everyone finds Purpleflower and Willowbranch.**

 **\- The truth is finally revealed.**

 **\- Bluemist goes crazy.**

 **That's all I can tell you, but is that enough to keep you reading? Stay tuned for the next chapter of TMotM!**

 **QOTD:** **What type of chocolate is your favorite? (sorry, couldn't think of anything)**

 **Bye, and see you all next chapter!**


	28. Chapter 23: The Mist Finally Clears

**I was going to update this tomorrow, but I couldn't resist.**

 **So anyways, long chapter! The actual chapter content (minus the author's note) is 2,244 words. A really long chapter by my standards!**

 **Mistwing the buttercat:** **Yes, Goldensun has gone to find Willowbranch and Purpleflower. You will find out about them in this chapter.**

 **BRUH:** **I agree with you completely. I laughed when you called Waterkit the "prophet of StarClan". I agree that Darkshadow's behavior is at least somewhat justified, but Sandfur has absolutely no excuse. Maybe I should send Waterkit to preach at Sandfur...**

 **No one important:** **Sure! I will definitely use your OC. I can really imagine Talon's personality quite clearly!**

 **XxBloomoftheMoonxX:** **Agreed. While there are different types of chocolate, chocolate is still chocolate. No matter what you do with it, it's still good.**

 **Nightlight:** **I will use all of your OCs. Thanks for submitting!**

* * *

CHAPTER 23: THE MIST FINALLY CLEARS

Willowbranch's POV

I sat by my sister and dropped a stick by her. "Your kits will be coming any moment now," I meowed. "Here are some herbs for you."

Purpleflower nodded tiredly and closed her eyes. As she lay sprawled on the moss, I thought about the Gathering.

I couldn't believe it. I had liked Goldensun. I had liked him a lot. But then he has to go and betray Purpleflower, his own _mother_. Purpleflower had been expecting _kits_! Now there was no guarantee that they would born safely.

"Willowbranch! Purpleflower! There you are!" A voice yelled. I froze and turned around. Goldensun was coming towards us!

"Goldensun!" squealed Purpleflower. "What are you doing here?"

"Have you come to ruin my sister's life – again?" I snapped.

Goldensun took a step back, alarmed. I saw only shame in his eyes, and for a moment I thought he was going to leave. Yet he still stood there, almost defiantly.

"No," he meowed.

"Then why are you here?" I snarled, fury building up in my muscles. "Get out! No cat wants you!"

"Well, I'll leave if you really don't want to hear my apology," he meowed, starting to turn away.

I stopped and stared. "No wait, come back here! You came to _apologize_?"

"I'm sorry," he meowed. "You see, Darkshadow has been visiting my dreams and feeding me lies about you, Purpleflower, and Bluemist. But then, when the truth about Purpleflower came out"… His voice trailed off.

"You weren't sure whether to believe Darkshadow," I finished. It was starting to make sense.

"We got into a huge fight last night," Goldensun meowed. "I accused him of lying and he threw me out. But… I just realized something about Bluemist." He looked imploringly at me.

My eyes widened as I realized that he had discovered my darkest secret. He couldn't have, had he? "What do you mean?" I asked.

Goldensun was about to answer when I heard a yell.

"GOLDENSUN!"

Goldensun jumped out of his pelt as Silvermoon ran up to him and embraced him tightly. A moment later, Bluemist, Leopardheart, and Sassafraspaw followed. Sassafraspaw was carrying a tiny bundle.

Goldensun stared at them. "What are you doing here?" he asked. Suddenly a black-and-white tom burst out through the entrance.

"WILDWATER!" screamed Silvermoon. "Why did you follow us?"

"You know the rules," he said grimly. "Flowerstar said not to leave camp."

"So you're coming to bring us back and rat on us?" asked Sassafraspaw, her fur bristling.

"No. I'm here to help you," he meowed firmly.

"WHAT!" Silvermoon yelled. "No cat invited you!"

"No, Silvermoon," said Leopardheart unexpectedly. "He should stay. He has as much of a right as we do."

Silvermoon glared at her, but made no comment.

"I brought my kit with me," Sassafraspaw said. "I was afraid that if I left him behind, he would be hurt by Flowerstar." He placed the kit besides Purpleflower. "His name is Flamekit."

"Oh StarClan, he's so cute," Purpleflower purred. Sassafraspaw looked at her nervously.

"Do you really think that I would harm him?" Purpleflower asked. "I would never harm an innocent kit. That is in fact why I killed Darkshadow. I had no choice."

Sassafraspaw relaxed and withdrew. And in that moment, I knew that she believed Purpleflower. She trusted her enough to let her stay with her kit.

"Tell us," Goldensun said. "The reason why I came here is to get some answers from Purpleflower and Willowbranch."

Purpleflower nodded slowly and turned to me. "We're going to have to tell them the truth," she whispered. "And the whole truth."

I nodded. "You first," I whispered.

"Okay," said Purpleflower, turning to the warriors and apprentice. "So, as you probably know, it all started with a forbidden love"…

* * *

Purpleflower's POV

 _Flashback_

 _Purpleflower was eagerly walking to the Gathering island. She couldn't wait to meet Whitetail._

 _As she walked across the tree-bridge, she saw her mate standing there, a grin on his face._

 _"_ _Hey," he meowed. "You told me at the Gathering that you were expecting my kits! When will they come?"_

 _"_ _A few moons," she replied._

 _Whitetail suddenly looked a little worried. "I wonder what Darkshadow will think," he meowed. "Shouldn't we tell him? He has a right to know."_

 _"_ _If I was going to tell him, it should have been a long time ago," Purpleflower replied. "No way. I've been his mate for three years, and it's going to stay that way."_

 _"_ _If you say so," he sighed. Purpleflower felt a little guilty for keeping it from Darkshadow. But she couldn't tell him now! It was too late in the game._

 _She shook her head to clear the thoughts, and Whitetail grinned at her. "Bye!" he meowed, then stepped towards the fallen tree and climbed over it._

 _Purpleflower wasn't ready to go home, so she sighed, sat down, and groomed her fur contentedly. Suddenly, she felt a sharp jab in the back, and froze, turning around slowly. When she saw who it was, she felt a sudden rush of terror._

 _Darkshadow._

 _"_ _Hi," said Purpleflower, trying to keep her voice calm. "Why are you out here?" Maybe he hadn't heard everything. Maybe he had also been on a late-night walk. Hope made her fur lie flat. "Please," she prayed silently, "please don't let him have heard that"…_

 _"_ _Don't pretend to me, Purpleflower," her mate snarled. "I heard everything. I can't believe you_ lied _to me all of this time."_

 _Purpleflower shrunk back in fear. "Oh StarClan no!" she wailed aloud._

 _"_ _Oh StarClan_ yes _," Darkshadow responded venomously. "When those kits are born, I swear to StarClan that I'll kill them! I don't want half-Clan filth running here in RiverClan."_

 _"_ _No," gasped Purpleflower, shocked. How could he? "The kits have done nothing wrong!" She felt a sudden fury rush through her. Without thinking she leapt towards Darkshadow, clawing fur off of his pelt._

 _"_ _OW! Get off of me," he roared._

 _Now Purpleflower felt stronger and stronger. She snarled as she spat off more of his fur. Darkshadow attempted to stop her, but she was invincible, unbreakable. She swiftly leaned forwards and delivered a killing bite._

 _Darkshadow suddenly stopped thrashing and lay motionless._

 _Then he was dead._

 _Suddenly, rain began to pelt downwards, and Purpleflower could feel StarClan crying. "Oh what have I done?" she thought, as tears ran down her cheeks._

 _She had made the wrong choice. If she had let him go, he would be alive. StarClan wouldn't be turning on Purpleflower, and she wouldn't feel so miserable._

 _But if she_ hadn't _have killed him…_

 _There was no limit to what he could have done. He could have told Midnightstar and gotten her exiled. He would have ruined her life._

 _And what about her kits? For them, there would have been no life at all. So there had not really been a choice._

 _She did everything for her kits, and nothing was more important than that. She had no regrets._

 _End of Flashback_

* * *

Willowbranch's POV

"And that," my sister finished, "is why Darkshadow died."

The six young cats stared at us in shock, Goldensun in particular. "StarClan turned on you for that?" Sassafraspaw asked furiously. "That is wrong!"

"I know," Purpleflower agreed.

"Wait," said Bluemist suddenly, "we have yet to hear Willowbranch's story."

I froze as all eyes turned to me. Sighing, I knew it was time. "Well, remember your sister, Waterkit?" I asked Bluemist and Goldensun. They nodded. "She was four moons older than you two and would have been made a warrior by now, but she died.

"She swallowed deathberries as a kit, which you know," I continued. "But there's more to it than that.

"It was my fault that she died. I thought that she had whitecough, and didn't realize that it was deathberries until it was too late. She had already died before I could save her."

The six were all looking appropriately horrified, as expected. But the story wasn't over yet.

"Purpleflower and Waterkit eventually came to forgive me. But Darkshadow was furious. He wanted revenge. He was never able to fulfill it during life, but tried to get it in death, on the two of us."

"And that is where I come in," Goldensun added, his eyes blazing with anger.

"He got you to tell Purpleflower's secret at the Gathering," I meowed. "You told me that it was his doing. And I'm not surprised."

"But I don't get something," Goldensun continued, "what would he have against Bluemist?"

"What does this have to do with me?" my former apprentice asked, confused.

"He tried to get me to kill you," Goldensun said, and Bluemist's eyes flashed in horror. "He made up a false prophecy. But I don't get it. Why does he so desperately want him dead?"

This was it. This was the moment when the whole truth would come out.

"Well, there's more to my story," I continued heavily. "Did Darkshadow tell you that Sandfur forced me to have his kits?"

"He told me that you two were in a forbidden relationship!" Goldensun gasped furiously. "He never said that you weren't in love with him in the first place!"

"He forced _me_ to have his kits too!" Sassafraspaw yelled at the same time.

"What?" I gasped. "Is that how you became pregnant?"

"Yes," she whispered, tail drooping. "He did it to me because he was holding a grudge against all rouges. The reason why he held the grudge was because a rouge forced his mother to have kits. That means that Darkshadow and Sandfur are half-Clan. He thought that I was as bad as all rouges, so he did the same thing to me. I killed him after that. The – the rockslide was my doing."

Purpleflower laid her tail on Sassafraspaw's shoulders. "It wasn't your fault," she said heavily. "He deserved to die. He forced not one she-cat, but _two_ of them, to have his kittens. I don't blame you for that."

"So _that_ is what Sandfur meant!" It made sense now. When Sandfur had given me his kits, he had told me that he had an "actual target". As I explained this to Sassafraspaw, a thought struck me: Sassafraspaw hadn't even been born at the time! How could she be his "actual target"?

 _He was probably waiting for a rouge she-cat to come along_ , I thought. _And she certainly did._ I felt a sudden rush of love towards Sassafraspaw. We had experienced the same horrors throughout our lives. I vowed to protect her, no matter what.

"So anyways," I continued my story. "I became pregnant after Sandfur did that. And then I had a son."

I looked at Bluemist, and he gasped. He knew.

"And that son was… you."

* * *

Bluemist's POV

I couldn't believe it. Me, the son of a _medicine cat_? How? My parents were Purpleflower and Darkshadow! Did this mean that I wasn't Goldensun's brother anymore?

Was this why Darkshadow wanted me dead? But he's my father! Well… he _was_ my father. But we had been raised by him! Didn't he care about us?

"No!" I yowled. "I will not accept this!"

Purpleflower looked at me sorrowfully. "Bluemist, I have always loved you like a true son," she meowed. "Please forgive me."

"No!" I screamed, glaring at her. "Willowbranch murdered my older sister, Waterkit – who happens to actually _not_ be my sister" –

"I didn't murder her! I told you, I thought it was only whitecough," Willowbranch protested.

"And then you lied to me," I added. "Was Darkshadow let out from the secret? I'm not surprised that he's mad."

"He doesn't even know what he's saying," Purpleflower murmured to her sister.

That was too much for me. I launched myself at Willowbranch. Willowbranch didn't even try to defend herself. She just sat there, sobbing, as I slammed her to the ground.

But suddenly, I felt myself being lifted off of her shoulders. Leopardheart was glaring at me.

"You should respect your mother," she snarled. "You have no right to attack her."

"You don't know what it's like," I yelled at her.

Leopardheart's eyes narrowed into slits of fury. "Excuse me? Whose mother died? Yours or mine? I lost both of my parents in the battle! You should consider yourself lucky that you even _have_ a loving mother!"

"She is not my mother, and never will be," I retorted, ignoring the gasps of shock coming from Silvermoon and Sassafraspaw.

"Bluemist"… began Purpleflower, but I had already sprinted into the trees.

I found a gorse bush to hide in, in case they came looking for me. Crying, I lay down there, ignoring the cold snow against my fur.

Why had she done this to me? Why couldn't they tell me from the start? Didn't they trust me?

Suddenly, I heard a rustling. Sassafraspaw was above me, staring intently into the bush.

"Bluemist, come out now," she meowed. "There's no need to hide from the world."

"But she _lied_ to me!" I wept.

"But she still cares about you. Would you rather she told you? You'd be unhappy your whole life, because you'd have this secret that weighed you down."

I stared at her. Come to think of it, I had never thought of it that way.

"Come," she said simply. "Come with me, back to Willowbranch."

"But"… I protested, then stopped. My friend's deep blue eyes seemed to glimmer in a magical way.

"You helped me," she replied, her beautiful voice echoing around the forest. "Now I'll help you."

* * *

 **So Bluemist is the son of Willowbranch and Sandfur! XxBloodoftheMoonxX, your prediction was correct!**

 **It would be lovely if you were to review… Virtual chocolate for everyone!**

 **AOTD:** **Milk chocolate is my favorite. Dark chocolate is second place, followed by white. But I guess chocolate is always chocolate…**

 **QOTD:** **What would you name Purpleflower's kits? (I'm not accepting any name requests)**


	29. Chapter 24: Sassafraspaw's Promise

**I actually almost cried while writing this, because it was so sad. You're all going to hate me by the end of this chapter...**

 **No one** **important:** **I will definitely use your OCs. Submit as many as you like! I don't have many OCs, so I'm pretty desperate. And I agree, Darkshadow is a very interesting villain. He does seem to have a conscience and understand what he's doing is wrong.**

 **Snowfall16:** **I agree that Sassafraspaw's kits were really random. There is no excuse for that. When I'm done uploading this, I'll post an edited version of this story and fix a lot of things.**

 **XxBloodoftheMoonxX:** **I hate milk, but yeah, milk chocolate is awesome. Chocolate pals forever! XD**

 **BRUH: Well, this was pre-written, so this may be a little difficult. I'll see if I can fit Waterkit's preaching in, but I'm not making any promises. Oh, and Puddlekit, Rainkit, and Sunkit are such cute names!**

* * *

CHAPTER 24: SASSAFRASPAW'S PROMISE

Purpleflower's POV

"I'm sorry about all I said," Bluemist meowed, looking at me and Willowbranch. "And I forgive you for lying."

I gazed proudly at the medicine cat. Though he wasn't actually my son, I would always feel as if he was. Stifling a purr, I reached over and nuzzled him.

"Now, we have a very important task," Leopardheart suddenly meowed, taking us all by surprise.

"What?" asked Wildwater nervously.

"We need to find a way to defeat Flowerstar," Leopardheart replied.

We had completely forgotten about Flowerstar, in the midst of all of this happening. I was about to give suggestions when a sudden pain hit me in the belly.

I gasped, and fell to the ground. I had only endured this pain twice, when I was giving birth to Waterkit, and after that, when I gave birth to Goldensun, but I knew it could only mean one thing: my kits were coming.

"Her kits!" Willowbranch screamed. "Make a nest!"

Silvermoon and Sassafraspaw immediately grabbed some leaves and arranged them. Leopardheart, Goldensun, and Wildwater carried me onto the nest. Meanwhile, Willowbranch had found a stick.

"Bite down on this," she told me, and I grasped the stick firmly in my jaws.

"Hold on, you're doing great," Bluemist said encouragingly as he licked my flank.

Then another spasm came. I suppressed a screech as I felt an even worse pain grip me. How much longer would this last?

I barely remember the ordeal. All I remember was the end of the long and painful kitting, where we finally got to name the kits.

"Four kits," Willowbranch meowed, stepping back. "Three toms and one she-kit."

"What will you name them?" asked Sassafraspaw.

I took one look at my firstborn kit, who happened to also be my only daughter. She was so delicate. The kit was pure white, like me, and there was only one name that I could call her.

"Swankit," I murmured.

Then, we looked at the next cat. My second-born, a cream-colored tom-kit, was at my paws.

"He is the spitting image of Sandfur," I meowed shakily.

"I forbid you to call him Sandkit," Sassafraspaw said. And I agreed with her. None of us wanted to be reminded of that horrible cat. The fact that my son looked like him was reminder enough.

"How about Eaglekit?" Leopardheart suggested. "Perfect," I said. Then I looked at the white tom, and immediately came up with a decision. "He is Whitekit," I declared. "I want him to bear his father's name."

"And now, the last one," Silvermoon said. We all looked at the last-born kit. He was pale-blue gray, and very tiny, the spitting image of" –

– "Waterkit," Willowbranch and I said in unison.

Suddenly I felt faint. Something was wrong. Actually, something was _very_ wrong.

"Why does she look so pale?" cried Sassafraspaw.

Willowbranch took one look at me, and gasped. "The kitting was way too hard on her," she meowed. "She's too old to be having kits. She's not going to survive this one."

Silvermoon screamed and buried her nose in her sister's fur. " _No_!" she screamed.

I felt my vision blurring away, and my fur was being drenched in something red and sticky. This was it. It was over.

"Sassafraspaw, do you still have milk from your kitting?" I asked. Sassafraspaw nodded.

I looked at her in the eye. "You're a very sweet apprentice," I murmured. "You care about others, but you're stubborn when you want your way. Sassafraspaw, I can't think of a better cat than you to be their mother."

"No! I don't want you to go!" Sassafraspaw yelled again.

"Listen to me," I meowed firmly, "your screaming can't stop me from going. This kit would have died if I hadn't have killed Darkshadow, and she will die now if you don't care for them. Without me, you're now the only nursing queen in RiverClan. _Promise_ me that you'll be the mother she deserves."

Sassafraspaw stared at me long and hard. "I accept," she finally choked out.

"I'm so sorry you had to get hurt by Sandfur," I said. "It was a pleasure getting to mentor you. Goodbye, and remember your promise."

That was the last thing I said before I finally allowed myself to give way to the dizzy blackness.


	30. Allegiances 2

**ALLEGIANCES 2:**

* * *

FLOWERCLAN

LEADER:

FLOWERSTAR: glossy brown she-cat with amber eyes.

DEPUTY:

MEDICINE CATS:

PINEFUR: spiky, dark gray tom with amber eyes.

OAKLEAF: brown tom with green eyes.

MAPLELEAF: brown-and-white tabby she-cat with brown eyes.

BLUEMIST: handsome, pale, blue-gray tom with a white underbelly, paws, and tail-tip, and bright blue eyes. Son of Sandfur and Willowbranch. He is a calm, kind, and hardworking cat, but can be a bit insensitive. Aged 14 moons.

WARRIORS:

THORNPELT: dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

MIDNIGHTLIGHT: black-and-white she-cat with dark blue eyes.

MOLEFOOT: golden-brown tom with green eyes.

FOXFOOT: reddish-brown tom with green eyes.

SNAKESCALE: brown-and-cream tom with brown eyes.

VOLEWHISKER: light gray tom with green eyes.

ORANGEFOOT: ginger tom with amber eyes.

DUSTYFUR: light brown tom with amber eyes.

OLIVEPELT: brown she-cat with green eyes.

RAINCLOUD: fluffy, dark gray she-cat with amber eyes.

FLAMINGFUR: dark ginger tabby tom with green eyes.

ELDERS:

DAWNSKY: cream-furred she-cat with amber eyes.

DUSKSKY: dark ginger tom with amber eyes.

PRISONERS:

WHITETAIL: white tom with blue eyes.

GOLDENSUN: handsome golden-brown tabby tom with brilliant, blind, sun-colored amber eyes. Son of Purpleflower and Darkshadow. He is a fierce, tough warrior who desperately wants to prove himself as a great warrior, even though he can't see. Aged 12 moons.

WILDWATER: black-and-white tom with orange-amber eyes.

SILVERMOON: small, beautiful black she-cat with a white chest, tail-tip, and paws, silver and gray spots on her pelt, and huge, wide, ice blue eyes. Daughter of Raincloud and Flamingfur, and Leopardpaw's older sister. Very mischievous and adventurous, with a sharp tongue made for sarcastic remarks, but she is a good cat at heart and has a sense of humor. Aged 12 moons.

SASSAFRASLEAF: unique gray she-cat with irregular dark gray patches, white tail-tip, and deep, dazzling blue eyes. She was orphaned when she was five moons old, but RiverClan took her in as one of them. She is shy and doesn't talk much. Aged 11 moons.

* * *

STARCLAN

WATERKIT: silvery-blue she-kit with big blue eyes and aqua starlight on her fur.

DARKSHADOW: dark gray tom with amber eyes and light gray starlight on his fur.

* * *

PLACE OF NO STARS

SANDFUR: cream-colored tom with amber eyes and shadows on his fur.

PURPLEFLOWER: albino, white she-cat with rare purple eyes and shadows on her fur.

* * *

CATS OUTSIDE THE CLANS

LONERS:

WILLOWBRANCH: slender, light gray tabby she-cat with green eyes.

LEOPARDHEART: pretty, dappled, pale golden she-cat with leaf-green eyes. Daughter of Raincloud and Flamingfur, and Silverpaw's younger sister. Eager, brave, and fiercely loyal to her Clan. Aged 12 moons.

FLAMEKIT: black-and-gold tom-kit with a white chest and closed eyes.

SWANKIT: delicate, white she-kit with closed eyes.

EAGLEKIT: cream-colored tom-kit with a brown underbelly and closed eyes.

WHITEKIT: white tom-kit with closed eyes.

WATERKIT: pale, blue-gray tom-kit with closed eyes.

* * *

 **I feel really bad for killing off Purpleflower, but I kind of felt that I had to.**

 **AOTD:** **You found out their names in the chapter.**

 **QOTD:** **Er, I'm watching TV and posting this at the same time. What is your favorite TV show or movie?**


	31. Chapter 25: To the Moonpool

**Has it been too long since I've updated this? Sorry about that.**

 **No one important:** **Flowerstar will be smacked very soon, don't worry. We're almost about to wrap it up. Only a few chapters and an epilogue are there. And don't worry, none of the kits are going to die.**

 **Snowfall16:** **I'm glad that you wrote all of those reviews with your feedback! I didn't realize that I had so many technical errors. Okay, here goes. As you've most likely figured out, Darkshadow wants Bluemist dead because in reality Bluemist is not his son. And I didn't really consider the lake to be that huge. I probably have a different image in mind than you, I guess. Oh, and to clear that up, Sassafraspaw never injured her throat or anything. When she joined RiverClan, she was talking. But after Sandfur died, she went into silent mode because she was too afraid that she would end up blurting out the truth. And you're right, I originally made Wildwater and Silvermoon to be friends. But Silvermoon did initially have feelings for him that were larger than them just being friends. I should have written that somewhere. I have no excuse for that one. And I changed "Purpleflower killed Darkshadow" to "Purpleflower murdered Darkshadow". No excuse there either. And don't worry, this will not be over by a long shot! We still have a few chapters and an epilogue to go!**

* * *

CHAPTER 25: AT THE MOONPOOL

Silvermoon's POV

Everything became very silent after Purpleflower's death. I buried my face in Leopardheart's fur, and she tried to comfort me.

Finally, after what felt like moons, I spoke up.

"She was such a great warrior, and she would have also been a good mother," I whispered. "Why did she have to go?"

"We'll always remember her," added Bluemist softly.

"Now what do we do?" Sassafraspaw wailed. "What _can_ we do without her?"

"Let's go to the Moonpool," said Leopardheart suddenly. Everyone looked at her. "Well, maybe we can see Purpleflower there. And then we can also see the rest of StarClan and they can help us."

That sounded like a good plan. Sassafraspaw picked up Flamekit, Willowbranch carried Waterkit, Bluemist took Eaglekit, Leopardheart carried Whitekit, and I got Swankit. We then began our journey to the Moonpool.

As we were walking, Goldensun fell back in line to talk to me. " _Promise_ me that you'll take care of yourself," he meowed urgently. I nodded. "Sure, I won't get into trouble," I meowed, putting my goofy expression on my face.

"You fish-brain." Goldensun suddenly grabbed me hard by the shoulders. "Can't you see that I _love_ you? Wasn't that obvious from ever since you broke up with Wildwater? If anything happened to you, I'd… I'd"… He couldn't finish.

I was shocked. Since when did Goldensun have feelings for me? But… but I still had feelings for Wildwater? Which should I choose?

"Guys, we really need to get going back there," Leopardheart called through a mouthful of kit fur.

"Yeah, sorry to break up your date," Wildwater added nastily.

"It wasn't a date," I mumbled. Wildwater snorted.

Now we had reached the Moonpool. Leopardheart, Wildwater, and Goldensun had been there once before, and Bluemist and Willowbranch had gone many times, but Sassafraspaw and I had never seen it and we were awed by its beauty.

The water was a deep crystalline blue, so dark that it almost matched the shade of the night sky. The moon shines brightest right above the Moonpool, which made the surrounding area shine with bright white light. The reflections of thousands of stars made the water seem as if it were bursting into colorful flame. It was just too breathtaking.

"We all need to jump into the water to reach StarClan," said Willowbranch. "Put the kits in first."

We dropped the kits into the water. "They'll be safe there," Willowbranch assured Sassafraspaw. "The Moonpool is not like any ordinary water. They can breathe under."

"Enough talking. We really need to get going!" Leopardheart meowed impatiently. Without further ado she leapt in gracefully. The water began to froth and bubble.

"Okay," said Willowbranch, taking charge, "we all need to jump in right now, and meet with StarClan" –

– "Oh, I don't think so," a frosty voice purred.

My insides turned to ice as I heard the familiar voice. I spun around, even though I already knew who it was.

Flowerstar was standing in front of us, her lips curved to form a triumphant smile. Behind her stood the largest array of warriors that I have ever seen.

* * *

 **To be continued...**


	32. Chapter 26: Leopardheart's Discovery

**STOP!**

 **I have something important to say at the end of the chapter. Just could you all please make sure you don't skip it? Thank you so much!**

 **I have 64 reviews! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!**

 **So, I was hoping that we could make it to 100 reviews before this story is over. Could we try to do that?**

 **Review replies:**

 **XxBloodoftheMoonxX:** **I didn't mean for that to be a plot twist, but now that I think of it, it was kinda unexpected. I've never heard of Tokyo Ghoul. What's it about?**

 **Snowfall16:** **Yes, the cats' bodies stay at the Moonpool while they dream of StarClan. But they are in the Moonpool's waters, so no one can harm them while they're there.**

 **krystal:** **This fanfic is based off of what happened in that fanfic. I think you are referring to** ** _The Sound of Snow_** **. Since that story is incomplete, I thought that I should write a story like that!**

 **SilverGhost:** **So you love Crookedstar too! Here's a Crookedstar plushie for you!**

 **Guest:** **Yeah, Umbridge and Flowerstar are so alike, aren't they? They're both EEEVVIIILLLL.**

 **No one important:** **Yes, Flowerstar is very cunning, isn't she? Her pride will bring her down in the end, definitely. But the second book is actually not going to have anything to do with Flowerstar. It might even be a sort of standalone. Sure, send me OCs! Send me all the OCs you want! I need them!**

 **writer s.k:** **Here's your update! Glad you like this story!**

 **BRUH:** **What is Jurassic World and TMNT about? (sorry I really don't know anything) And I agree, Waterkit is epic, but Goldensun... well, I really don't know what to make of him. And it's fine that you haven't had time to review. But unfortunately, the sequel will not be coming out for a long time. I really need OCs to write it. And I know, it's not often that you find WindClan as the villains. i'm really sick and tired of RiverClan always being the villain and ThunderClan always being the main Clan.**

* * *

CHAPTER 26: LEOPARDHEART'S DISCOVERY

Leopardheart's POV

 _I was in a cave. Next to me were the five kits. They were curled up by my tail, still sleeping. Other than those five, I was all alone._

 _"Anyone there?" I called out. No. There was no one. "Silvermoon? Sassafraspaw? Bluemist? Goldensun? Anybody?"_

 _"Leopardheart," a voice said._

 _I looked up. Out of the shadows, a white she-cat with beautiful purple eyes walked out from the darkness. Without a doubt, I knew who it was._

 _"Purpleflower!" I gasped happily. "You made it to StarClan!"_

 _Purpleflower frowned. "Not exactly." Bowing her head, she murmured, "I was thrown to the Dark Forest."_

 _"Oh no!" I gasped. "Wait but then why are you able to visit my dreams?"_

 _"Because of me," said a voice, and I spun around to see a silvery-blue she-kit._

 _"I'm Waterkit," said the she-kit. "I tried to get Purpleflower a spot in StarClan, but they wouldn't listen. Darkshadow was elected to be on the council of StarClan, so he can basically do whatever he wants."_

 _"Oh no," I murmured. "That's horrible."_

 _"So today, I snuck Purpleflower into StarClan while every other cat was asleep. We came to your dream from there."_

 _"We need to get you back to StarClan," I gasped. "Did you try to tell the council of all of the evil things Darkshadow did?"_

 _"We did, but they wouldn't listen," Purpleflower said heavily. "Their logic is that you only go to the Dark Forest if you_ actually _kill someone. But if you_ threaten _or even_ attempt _to kill someone, it's justified."_

 _"Stupid StarClan." I felt the anger flare up inside of me. "We'll do something," I meowed, "I promise."_

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Goldensun's POV

We were trapped.

Flowerstar had ordered her warriors to surround us and we stood with each other, trembling.

I kept searching for an escape path. But there was none. The FlowerClan cats had surrounded us on all sides.

There really was no way out of this.

"Where is Leopardheart? Are you shielding her from punishment?" Flowerstar spat.

Leopardheart had been smart enough to escape to the Moonpool on time. The rest of us had just been sitting there talking. If only we had moved quickly enough…

"Leopardheart died," Sassafraspaw answered bravely. Unfortunately, it was really obvious that Sassafraspaw was lying, considering the fact that

Flowerstar could sense the hesitation in her voice though. "You're lying," she spat. Turning to her warriors, she growled, "Kill the apprentice. She needs to learn that lying is a _sin_."

Two huge warriors leapt in and pulled Sassafraspaw out. She thrashed and screamed, but they had an iron grip and wouldn't let go.

"SASSAFRASPAW!" Bluemist screamed. He tried to run after her, but Willowbranch held him back. "We can't," she meowed. Bluemist gave her one look of fury.

Suddenly, I heard a yowl, and I turned around in surprise.

"Leave my apprentice _alone_!"

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Bluemist's POV

"Leave my apprentice _alone_!"

Flowerstar whirled around to see the cat who had spoken. When she saw who it was, she doubled up in horror.

Midnightlight was perched on a tree, glaring down at the FlowerClan leader. Her blue eyes were on fire, and the fire was directed at Flowerstar. Under the cover of the trees were RainClan warriors, their claws flexed, ready for Midnightlight's command.

The RainClan warriors surrounded the FlowerClan ones, and I gasped in relief. This was too good to be true. Just when we needed them most, RainClan had showed up. I couldn't believe it.

When I looked at them, I saw that even some ShadowClan and WindClan cats joined RainClan, Whitetail being part of it. I saw him glare at Flowerstar with venom in his eyes. I was guessing that he'd wanted to break away from her for a long time, but was just too scared to do it until now.

"You really thought that I wouldn't come?" Midnightlight snarled to a dumbfounded Flowerstar. "You really thought that I'd given up? Well, I've got news for you. I _haven't_. Surrender or die."

"Go back home, Midnightlight," Flowerstar ordered, thought I could tell that her words were in vain. "You will listen to my orders!"

"Actually, it's Midnight _star_ now," the RainClan leader said boldly, "and I listen to no cat's orders but that of my co-leader's. Is that right, Fox _star_?"

Foxstar nodded proudly, but Flowerstar narrowed her eyes. Then suddenly she broke into laughter.

"Some leaders you are," she sneered. "I took all of your lives but one. You have only one life each."

I frowned. I could tell that as soon as the two leaders walked in, because as a medicine cat, I have the power to be able to tell how many lives a leader has. But something was odd about Flowerstar. When I geared my senses towards her, it hit me. Flowerstar _also_ had only one life!

"Flowerstar has only one life too!" I yelled. "I can sense it!"

"After her!" Foxstar roared, and the place was filled with cats fighting. I managed to squeeze through and make it to Midnightstar.

"What are you doing just standing there?" she roared. "Help the injured cats!"

I chuckled as I ran away to snag some cobwebs from a tree. That was more like the Midnightstar we all knew and loved.

I watched as the RainClan cats took down the FlowerClan cats. I breathed a sigh of relief.

It was going to be okay.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Leopardheart's POV

 _"I know what we're going to do," I meowed. "We need to keep an eye on Sandfur and Darkshadow._

 _"Purpleflower," I pointed to her, "you watch what Sandfur's doing. Since you live in the Dark Forest, that shouldn't be too difficult._

 _"And Waterkit. Your job is to spy on Darkshadow. I want you to watch his every move. He's your father, so that shouldn't be difficult either."_

 _"Good plan," Purpleflower agreed. "Then what?"_

 _"If you have enough evidence of them doing something to harm anyone, then go directly to the StarClan council."_

 _Waterkit frowned. "But we've already tried that. They won't listen."_

 _I knew my answer to that. "Then call me to a StarClan meeting," I meowed. "_ I'll _handle them."_

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Leopardheart's POV

 _"Leopardheart, there's something you need to know," Waterkit meowed. I listened intently. What was it?_

 _"Darkshadow is collaborating with a Dark Forest cat," she meowed. "Sandfur. Sandfur, his brother, went to the Dark Forest. I've seen them together, and I don't know what they're doing, but it's something bad."_

 _Her eyes sparkled with tears. "But I'm sure of one thing: Darkshadow thinks that he's using Sandfur to get his revenge, but in reality it's_ Sandfur _who's using_ Darkshadow _. And if Darkshadow knew who Sandfur truly was, he would never be plotting with him. In fact, if he knew the truth, then Darkshadow would be plotting_ against _him."_

 _"Why? What did Sandfur do?" I asked nervously._

 _"Leopardheart," she said, "I witnessed what he did to Willowbranch. Then he saw me and threw something down my throat. I thought that he had scratched my throat with his claw, but later I came to know that he had given me deathberries. Leopardheart, Sandfur_ murdered _me. He is the reason why Darkshadow is even holding the grudge in the first place."_

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Sassafraspaw's POV

I was beginning to realize that something was wrong.

First of all, we were outnumbered. At the beginning, we had more cats. But then Flowerstar sent a warrior for reinforcements, and their whole Clan was now here.

Secondly, we were losing. If we didn't do something, this would end the same way as the battle at the Gathering.

Neither side was giving up. If Midnightstar wasn't willing to give up, then neither should I be. I shook my head of the thoughts, but I still couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something bad was about to happen.

"Foxstar is dead!" The cry erupted through the air, and screams were heard throughout.

 _Oh StarClan._ I moved closer to Midnightstar. She could not be lost too. If she was, then we were as good as dead.

"Leave me alone!" the leader snarled. "Do not worry about me. Worry about the other cats!"

"But you only have one life left!" I protested. "I can't leave you alone."

"Everyone here has only one life!" she replied violently. "And I'm willing to sacrifice it for the sake of the Clans."

"But then RainClan will be left without a leader!" I cried.

Suddenly, a huge shape fell on top of me. I screamed and tried to shake it off. But suddenly, I felt the weight lifted off of my back. Turning around, I saw Flowerstar and Midnightstar battling ferociously.

"You – you," Midnightstar gasped, burning hatred in her eyes. "You _coward_! You attacked Sassafraspaw while she wasn't looking! _Everyone_ knows that you don't attack from behind!"

Purring, Flowerstar dodged Midnightstar's blows. She swiped Midnightstar's legs under her with a _crack_. Cackling, Flowerstar left, sneering, "Bye-bye, RainClan."

"BLUEMIST!" I roared. Bluemist came running at once. "Midnightstar, what happened?"

"Sassafraspaw," Midnightstar said roughly, "come here."

Shaking, I forced myself to walk to the leader.

"I want you to lead my Clan."

I was stunned. Me, as RainClan's leader? "No!" I yelled. "I _can't_!"

"You _must_ ," she said. "I have very little time left, I can feel it. But I am not afraid." Her voice grew defiant.

"You have the traits of a leader. You care about others, but you are firm when you want your way. I can't think of a better cat to leave RiverClan."

"That's exactly what Purpleflower said," Bluemist murmured.

"But why don't you ask one of the senior warriors?" I wailed.

"We don't _have_ any senior warriors," she replied. "They all died in the battle."

Oh yeah, I had forgotten that. But still, how could I become leader of RainClan? It didn't make sense.

"I have two problems with this," I meowed. "One: I never mentored a single cat, so what you're doing is against the warrior code. Two, and this one's pretty obvious: I'm still an apprentice!"

"But you're taking care of Purpleflower's kits," Bluemist pointed out. "I think that having kits makes you better leader material just like having an apprentice does. Purpleflower died yesterday," he said to a confused Midnightstar. "Sassafraspaw has to take care of her kits now." Midnightstar's eyes clouded over, and she nodded her head in understanding.

"I agree with Bluemist," Midnightstar said. "Having kits makes you a better leader, because it teaches you the skills that you would develop while mentoring an apprentice. In fact we should add that to the warrior code: 'If you have ever been a mother or father, you do not need an apprentice to become deputy'."

"We still haven't addressed the second problem," I pointed out impatiently.

"I can fix that," Midnightstar said with a smile.

I stood dumbfounded. Wait, what was she going to do? She wasn't going to give me a warrior name – was she?

"I, Midnightstar, leader of RainClan, call upon StarClan to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend her to you as a warrior. Sassafraspaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I – I do," I meowed shakily. Bluemist laid his paw comfortingly on my shoulder.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, you shall be known as Sassafrasleaf. StarClan honors your dedication and thoughtfulness, and we welcome you as a full warrior of RainClan."

"Sassafrasleaf! Sassafrasleaf!" Bluemist yowled. Midnightstar shot him a withering glare, and he immediately stopped. "Just thought that I should hang onto tradition," he meowed hastily.

"What's happening now is anything but tradition," I chuckled.

"Goodbye," Midnightstar said drowsily. "I can't wait to give you one of your lives, Sassafrasleaf. You just got your warrior name, and soon you will get your leader name. Soon you will be known as Sassafrasstar"…

"Midnightstar, don't go," I pleaded. But it was too late. Midnightstar was gone.

"Midnightstar is dead!" Bluemist yowled. Everyone stopped what they were doing to turn and stare.

"Good," meowed Flowerstar, looking pleased. "That means the lake is mine."

"Not so fast." I stood up to face her. "Before she died, Midnightstar gave me her leadership. RainClan still exists."

Flowerstar spat in my face. "If you think that I'm going to listen to an _apprentice_ , you're wrong. Because I" –

– "I'm actually not an apprentice anymore," I retorted. "Midnightstar gave me a warrior name, before she died. You may now call me Sassafrasleaf."

"And if you don't listen to her, you have me to answer to," Bluemist added boldly, standing up beside me.

"Oh, I'm _so_ scared," said Flowerstar, smirking. "Over here!" she shouted to Orangefoot.

The ginger warrior came running.

"Make sure that this leader wannabe doesn't escape," Flowerstar growled. Orangefoot came and over and gripped me.

"Get the medicine cat too," Flowerstar added to another warrior. I watched, terrified, as another warrior held Bluemist too.

"Leave them alone!" I suddenly heard a scream. Goldensun, Silvermoon, and Wildwater were staring at me. _Don't!_ I willed them. _I don't want you to get into trouble too!_ But it was too late. Flowerstar had sent other warriors to stop them.

Flowerstar looked around, smiling. "Now I own the forest," she yowled. "There is to be _no_ more rebellion. Do you understand?" Her gaze was threatening as she looked around. "That's a good little Clan. And I think we have five prisoners." She let out a loud laugh as Goldensun, Silvermoon, Wildwater, Bluemist, and I looked helplessly at each other.

"Let's go," she called.

And with that, we all set off, with Flowerstar leading the way.

* * *

Leopardheart's POV

 _"Leopardheart, now that we told you everything, you need to go back," Purpleflower meowed. "We'll keep Sassafraspaw's kits here. Be careful."_

 _I nodded. "Bye," I meowed as Waterkit pressed her nose to mine. Then the world went dark…_

I woke up, expecting to see my Clanmates in the water, or about to wake up. Instead, I saw that the pool was deserted. The only cat that I saw was Willowbranch, who was gazing at the trees. When she saw me, she jumped in horror.

"Leopardheart, it's terrible," she wailed. "The others were just about to jump into the pool after you. But then FlowerClan showed up looking for us. Midnightstar and Foxstar came with RainClan and tried to help us, but Flowerstar defeated them! And Foxstar and Midnightstar are dead!"

"No!" I gasped, horrified. Flowerstar's Clan had murdered Midnightstar! A boiling hate rose in my throat. I was going to get revenge. No one hurts my mentor and gets away with it!

"Where'd they go?" I flashed at her.

"They… they"… she stammered, looking taken aback. "They went to the horseplace."

"Then that's where I'm going," I replied. I bounded through the trees, ignoring her calling my name.

Flowerstar had hurt my friends, and she was going to get it. Because no cat harms my friends and gets away with it _alive_.

 **I forgot about the QOTD last chapter! Sorry guys!**

 **AOTD:** **I love** ** _Sabrina the Teenage Witch_** **. It is my absolute favorite show because it's so funny. The show is about a teenage girl that only wants to be normal. However, this proves impossible as she finds out that she's a witch. Now she has to hide the secret from her best friend, her boyfriend, the school bully, and her horrible vice-principal. My second favorite show is** ** _Winx Club_** **. I normally don't like girly shows, but this one is the only exception. It's about a group of fairies at a magic school that have to fight a group of evil witches to save the universe.**

 **Guys, I really need a deputy for WindClan, ShadowClan, and ThunderClan, and a leader for ShadowClan and ThunderClan. I'm not going to be able to write an epilogue or a sequel without them.**

 **If you are a member, could you please PM them to me? I really don't think that reviews are supposed to be for OC submissions. Reviews are supposed to be for criticizing the story. If you are a guest, though, you can review me the OC.**

 **And also, this is first come, first serve, so you have to be quick about sending in the OCs. Just fill out this form:**

 **Name:**

 **Gender:**

 **Appearance:**

 **Personality:**

 **Clan:**

 **Rank:**

 **Death Probability (0 being "I really don't care what you do" and 5 being "My Character nust live!"):**

 **See the chapter titled OC Submission Information for more details.**


	33. Chapter 27: they won't let me fit it in

**Sorry, it's been too long since I updated? I hope it's worth it, though. I had to rewrite this chapter, because it was just wasn't good. But now, it's over 4,000 words! And this chapter took up 9 pages on Microsoft Word! _9 darn pages_!**

 **Review replies:**

 **Snowfall16:** **Oh darn, it looks like I didn't copy the chapter properly! You see, I had trouble copying it onto the Doc Manager, so I think that I messed up copying it. Oh, and I will definitely use your OCs.**

 **Sparklecake3000:** **Sure, I will use Spottedsky. Submit more if you'd like!**

 **BRUH:** **Have you watched the 4Kids version of _Winx Club_? It is definitely my favorite version. In that version, each member of the club seemed to have their own personality. In the Nick version, all of them seem so girly and similar. Plus, in Season 4 and 5, Bloom, Flora, and Musa were so whiny about their boyfriends... I could go and on, but that's a long story. Yeah, I also watch _Sabrina the Teenage Witch_ every time I get bored. Oh, and I hate Firestar so much. How many people like Firestar after _The Last Hope_ , anyways? And Bramblestar just kept blabbing about how great Firestar was in _Bramblestar's Storm_. Also, look up on Youtube or Dailymotion to find more _Winx Club_ episodes. You'll find it. I can add Darkpaw in, but unfortunately, I'm not sure if her crush on goldensun will work out, because Goldensun ends up with a mate. I'll try to work it out though.**

 **No one important:** **I think you forgot to write your name for your review. Lark Flight seems to have a really cool personality, so I'll definitely add her in.**

* * *

CHAPTER 27: THE MOMENT WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR

Darkshadow's POV

I nervously followed my brother, quivering with fear. I had a million questions. What if StarClan caught us? Would our plan work? And if it did, would Waterkit ever forgive me?

 _"I refuse to call you my father if you're going to act like this!"_

No! I shook my head clear of the thoughts. I couldn't let them get to me. I _had_ to go through with the plan, or Sandfur would think that I was a loser.

But suddenly, a thought struck me as I suddenly stopped short.

Who _cared_ what Sandfur thought?

It was all coming clear to me now. I couldn't go through with the plan. It just wasn't worth it.

If I went through with it, then I would lose my standing as a StarClan cat. I would lose my trust in myself. And most importantly, I would lose Waterkit.

"Darkshadow?" Sandfur suddenly woke me up to the present. "Come _on_. What's the matter?"

"I… I"… Sandfur was looking at me impatiently. "What _is_ it? Spit it out, we've got work to do."

"Sandfur, I… I can't go through with the plan," I said firmly.

My brother gaped at me. "Are you insane? Here we are, ready to get our revenge, and you suddenly back out? What's up with that?"

"It's not worth it," I meowed quietly. "It's wrong. We can't do it."

"Don't make me fight you," Sandfur growled, unsheathing his claws.

"Bring it on," I responded angrily, baring my teeth.

Instead of fighting, Sandfur fell to the ground, laughing. I stared at him. What was he doing?

"You fool," Sandfur cackled. "You are so _stupid_. Not that I need you anyways."

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying not to make my voice tremble. "Of _course_ you need me. The only way you can do this is if both a StarClan and Dark Forest cat work together!"

"I took your magic," Sandfur replied. "I knew that you might back off, so just as a precaution, I took your powers. You can't do anything to stop me."

"No!" I gasped. "You can't do this!" I tried to use my magic to fend him off. Nothing. He really had taken my powers!

"Oh, I can and I will," Sandfur purred. "Now, what shall I do with you?"

"I'm not afraid of you," I growled, unsheathing my claws. The tremor in my voice gave me away though.

"Then you're an even bigger fool than I thought." Sandfur shook his head. "Bye bye, little brother!"

"NOOOOOO!" I screamed as he shoved me off of the clouds.

And then the world went dark.

* * *

Silvermoon's POV

We had been taken to the horseplace, which had been abandoned a few years ago. Apparently this was why Flowerstar had claimed the horseplace. She wanted to house prisoners here. I could hear other prisoners in the horseplace as soon as I walked in.

Orangefoot, who was one of Flowerstar's horseplace guards, was in charge of putting us in our prison.

When we had been lead in, she had taken us to a stall – where the horses had slept – and shoved thorns in the opening so that we couldn't escape. I winced and looked around. But there was no escape. I slumped against the wall. I, the master of escape, was stumped. There was no way out of this one.

I huddled against Goldensun, and he comfortingly licked the top of my head. Looking around the cell, I wondered if anyone would come after us.

My sister – was Leopardheart all right? Would FlowerClan catch her? Did she even know we were here?

"LEOPARDHEART!"

I shook awake. What was going on? "Sassafrasleaf!" I hissed. "Did you just scream that?"

"Yes!" she hissed. "Look, Leopardheart came for us! She's right here!"

Through the brambles, I could see Leopardheart and Willowbranch. I saw Leopardheart flash an annoyed look at Sassafrasleaf.

"You idiot!" Leopardheart hissed. "Sassafrasleaf, the guards will be coming here any minute if you don't _shut up_!"

"Sorry," Sassafrasleaf squeaked as Leopardheart started to claw the brambles. I waited expectantly. Suddenly, I saw the brambles coming loose and air rushed into the stall. We were free!

"Oh Leopardheart!" I ran up to her and hugged her. "I guess this isn't exactly the right time or place to say this, but I'm sorry that I ate your food yesterday!"

"You ate her meal?" Wildwater asked incredulously.

"Hey," I protested, "I was hungry, and my share was barely anything. So I had to steal from you, okay? Look, I'm really sorry!"

"It's all right, Silvermoon," said Leopardheart, looking faintly amused.

"Guys, enough with the happy reunion!" Goldensun snapped. "Can we just get out of here?"

"I hear something," a loud voice suddenly came from behind us. I froze in terror.

" _Run_!" Leopardheart hissed. "The exit is this way!"

As we bolted from the stall and flew after Leopardheart, I heard a guard shout. "They're escaping! Get them!"

* * *

Sandfur's POV

 _I was in the Dream Den, ready to impersonate some cat._

 _I was going to impersonate two cats. And now, I knew exactly which two cats I wanted._

 _"Willowbranch and Goldensun," I murmured to the void that I had created. The void was a murky, inky black ball of powerful positive and negative energy. It would get bigger and bigger as I added more and more magic to it._

 _Now the void was large enough to use. All I needed to do was to say the incantation._

 _"'Shadows of the forest and the light of the stars. Let me have a cat and make him or her all ours!'"_ **(I am really bad with rhyming lines XD)**

 _The void suddenly engulfed me. I was falling down through to a vortex of light._

 _"It's working!" I shouted excitedly._

* * *

Waterkit's POV

"Waterkit!" I heard someone yell. Surprised, I turned around. Purpleflower was running up to me at full speed. "I can't find Sandfur anywhere!"

"Where is he?" I asked. "I don't know," she answered.

"Hang on." I found the Scrying Pool and pawed it. "Sandfur," I murmured. The water bubbled, and then showed me an image of Sandfur.

"That isn't Sandfur," Purpleflower murmured. "It's Goldensun. What in StarClan's name is going on?"

"That's strange," I muttered. "The pool seems to be telling me that Sandfur is _inside_ of Goldensun."

Suddenly it hit me. This was Sandfur and Darkshadow's plan! They were impersonating other cats so that they could get revenge!

"Show me Darkshadow," I commanded. But instead of showing me some other cat, the pool seemed to be showing Darkshadow lying in a patch of grass. He looked injured.

I lifted my paw out of the water. The water fell to its stagnant image again. "We have to find Darkshadow!" I cried.

"What for?" Purpleflower demanded. "We don't have to have anything to do with him!"

"We're going to get some answers," I replied, bounding towards the exit. Purpleflower had no choice but to follow.

* * *

Sassafrasleaf's POV

We tried to run, but the guards caught us. Of course they did. They have WindClan speed in their hind legs. We don't.

"Stay here while I get Flowerstar," Orangefoot hissed through clenched teeth. He stood and padded away, but not before shooting us a glare.

I tried to exit through the opening, but it was stuffed with thorns, and this time it was stuffed so tightly, we couldn't get out. I groaned.

I looked up at Willowbranch, expecting some reassurance. Instead, I got the biggest shock of my life (and that's saying a lot, considering everything that's happened to me these past moons).

Normally, Willowbranch had green eyes. They were so beautiful, and they carried the image of the stillest, most amazing pool of water that you have ever swum in.

But now Willowbranch's beautiful green eyes… they were amber…

* * *

Sandfur's POV

 _I sat inside Willowbranch's head, whispering commands._

 _"Kill Sassafrasleaf," I commanded. Willowbranch obediently whipped her head towards the newly appointed warrior and began to walk towards her, the ground shaking with every pawstep._

 _Then I moved to Goldensun. "Kill everyone," I ordered. "Except Willowbranch." These meddling cats needed to be taught a lesson. Goldensun nodded, and immediately turned towards his brother._

 _I let out a yowl of dark laughter. This was it. Nothing was stopping me now!_

* * *

Willowbranch's POV

Suddenly, I felt myself walking. My paws were changing course, stomping towards Sassafrasleaf with a _thud_.

I panicked. What was going on? I tried to force myself to change course, but it was no use. I felt myself walking on with the intention to kill, and the worst part was that it wasn't me.

There was only one possible explanation – someone had taken control of my mind!

* * *

Bluemist's POV

I stared at Goldensun. What was up with him? Why was he giving everyone such murderous stares?

"Goldensun?" I asked, trying not to let my voice tremble. "Are you okay?"

He glared at me, and without warning, he pounced.

I yelped as Goldensun began clawing me _hard_ on the belly. "What are you doing?" I screamed as he smacked my face.

I felt Silvermoon pulling him off of me. "What's going on?" she cried. Goldensun began to run after her. She shrieked and ran faster, away from him.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, but it's definitely something bad!" she wailed as she ran away.

Sassafrasleaf began to run after Silvermoon, but suddenly, a voice was heard behind us.

"Stop!"

* * *

Darkshadow's POV

"Stop!"

Purpleflower and Waterkit had found me, and had taken me to the horseplace. Now I had commanded them to stop what they were doing, and they were all staring at me.

I stood in front of the living cats. They were staring at me.

"Listen," I said firmly, "I know what's going on. Sandfur has taken control of Goldensun and Willowbranch's minds. We need to stop them!"

"Hang on," Silvermoon came up to me. "How can we be so sure that he's on our side? This is most definitely a trick."

"I have to agree," Purpleflower said, frowning at Waterkit. "Just because he _appears_ to be on our side doesn't mean that he _is_."

"He is! He is!" Waterkit protested. "I can feel it this time!"

"Oh no he isn't," Leopardheart replied. "Sorry Waterkit. We trust you, but just because he's your father doesn't mean he gets a clean slate."

"I'm good this time!" I protested. "You have to believe me!"

"We don't have to do anything," Bluemist replied, glaring at me. Silvermoon followed suit.

"Listen up." Sassafrasleaf's voice suddenly rang out. "Have the rest of you got any better ideas? We might as well listen to what Darkshadow says. But if anyone has any better ideas, speak up right now."

"I'm with Sassafrasleaf," Wildwater said. "You all trusted me, even though you didn't have to. Now it's time to trust Darkshadow."

"We need to help them break through," I said. "Bluemist, Silvermoon, Leopardheart, and Purpleflower, you four help Goldensun. Sassafrasleaf, Wildwater, and Waterkit, you help me with Willowbranch. Got that? Then let's do it!"

* * *

Goldensun's POV

I heard my friends calling and I knew that I must do this. I must break free, no matter what.

* * *

Sandfur's POV

What? They had caught on? They realized what we were doing? How was that possible?

Well, I wasn't giving in. I would not let Goldensun and Willowbranch win through. They were _mine_ now.

* * *

Silvermoon's POV

I cautiously approached Goldensun, my whiskers quivering. Could I do this?

"Goldensun, you're my brother! Remember?" Bluemist asked desperately.

Goldensun narrowed his eyes, and he unsheathed his claws. Bluemist yowled desperately as Goldensun clawed his nose.

"Okay, he definitely needs more work," Leopardheart meowed. "We need to think of a new tactic."

But suddenly, I heard a loud voice that made us all stop what we were doing. "What's all this?"

* * *

Leopardheart's POV

"What's all this?"

I turned around to see the speaker. Orangefoot and Flowerstar were there, lips curled at us.

"Good work, Orangefoot," Flowerstar praised. "After I execute Whitetail for betraying me, I think I'll promote you to deputy."

Orangefoot dipped his head, obviously pleased.

"You're going to kill Whitetail?" Bluemist asked, shocked.

"Of course I am!" Flowerstar replied. "You really thought that I'd let him live after everything he's done? He joined the RainClan alliance and he mated with a RiverClan warrior! Good riddance!" Her whiskers twitched in disgust.

I growled, the blood pounding in my ears. I turned to Bluemist, Silvermoon, and Purpleflower. "You take care of Goldensun," I meowed. "I'll handle Flowerstar."

Silvermoon looked at me, shocked. "All alone?" she gasped.

"Yes! Don't worry about me," I meowed impatiently. Unsure, Silvermoon nodded and diverted her attention to Bluemist, who now bore a deep scratch on his side.

Ears flattened, lip curled, I advanced on Flowerstar, a hiss growing in my throat. "It's payback time," I meowed quietly.

* * *

Wildwater's POV

"Do you, uh, remember us?" I asked Willowbranch, trying not to tremble. "We're your friends! You would never hurt anyone, and you certainly, uh, don't want to kill us."

Willowbranch flattened her ears, looking surprised. For a moment, a hint of green shone in her eyes. Then the eyes turned back into amber, and she let out a hiss, shaking the ground.

I looked nervously at Sassafrasleaf, Waterkit, and Darkshadow. "This isn't working," I meowed. "Time for Plan B"…

Leopardheart's POV

"I'd like to see you try," Flowerstar meowed, laughing. I bared my teeth at her, but she was still laughing. She murmured to Orangefoot, "What a loser."

Her small pause was all I needed. Gathering strength in my hind legs, I leapt for the leader. My claws were unsheathed, and she gasped as I struck her hard, right in the mouth, for the words she had spoken.

But I had forgotten that there was two of them. I felt Orangefoot hit me hard and I yowled. His eyes gleamed, and his expression said that he'd enjoy killing me.

"Bye bye, little leopard," he whispered, and then he struck.

Bluemist's POV

"Remember what happened?" I begged to Goldensun. "Darkshadow lied to you! The prophecy was a fake! You can't trust him! Remember, you _don't want to kill me_!"

As I spoke, I saw his eyes suddenly starting to change. He stared at me, and I knew that he was starting to be swayed by our words.

 _That's it!_ I silently cheered. _Keep it up!_

Sandfur's POV

I gritted my teeth. Their words were starting to work! But he was Darkshadow's son. Darkshadow had told me everything about him.

Looking down at him, I whispered, "You want to be a hero, right? They're just lying because they know they'll lose. It would be too humiliating for them to die at the claws of a blind cat!"

That was it. Goldensun's eyes narrowed, and he glared at Bluemist and marched towards him.

 _Kill him!_ I ordered. _He deserves it!_

Leopardheart's POV

Orangefoot and I tussled for a long time. I heard Flowerstar's laugh, long and shrill, and I was furious. She wasn't even doing anything! She was just standing there and letting Orangefoot do everything.

She was laughing even more as Orangefoot and I fought. I growled, frustrated. He clearly had the upper paw. _StarClan help!_ I prayed.

 _Leopardheart!_ I suddenly heard Waterkit's squeak in my head. _Rake his belly._

Unsheathing my claws, I gripped at his exposed belly and he yowled, letting go of me. His split-second hesitation was all I needed.

 _Now!_ Waterkit yowled.

With an ear-splitting screech I launched myself at Orangefoot. He flailed desperately, but it was no use, and I ended it with a quick and clean bite.

"You… you," Flowerstar whispered. "You killed him! And I will kill you for that," she snarled furiously. "You're done for."

I smiled. "Funny," I meowed. "I'd like to see _you_ try."

Silvermoon's POV

Suddenly, all off our progress was lost. Goldensun stood tall and defiant. And he was heading straight for us.

"Oh no!" Bluemist squealed.

Goldensun suddenly extended a claw at Bluemist, and I fell. Gasping, he fell backwards. Bluemist struggled, but Goldensun gnashed his teeth and held hard.

"STOP!" I screamed.

Goldensun suddenly let go of his brother. He turned and stared at me.

"That's right," I meowed encouragingly. "Now just listen to me."

Bluemist lay on the ground, moaning. "What are you trying to accomplish?" he groaned. "Do you _want_ a death sentence?"

I ignored the tom and stood, staring at Goldensun. "You just attacked your brother," I meowed. "But I know that it wasn't really you."

My legs were shaking, and I wanted to scream at myself. _What are you doing? Are you out of your mind?_ Bluemist's words came back to me. _Do you_ want _a death sentence?_

But somehow, this felt right. As my ice blue eyes bore into his – or Sandfur's – amber eyes, I realized how true my words were.

"This isn't like _you_ ," I meowed. "You are the tom that went after Willowbranch and tried to save her. You are the tom that defied Darkshadow. Remember, you are not the tom that wants to murder Bluemist. You – you are the tom that loves me."

Goldensun stared at me, shock in his eyes. He took a step closer. Now his muzzle was almost touching mine.

"I didn't answer your plea," I told him, "mainly because I was too scared. At that point, I still had feelings for Wildwater. But now I realize that you were right. Goldensun, I – I love you too. I would be honored to be your mate."

Those words had taken all of my strength and courage. With a gasp, I fell towards Goldensun's paws, all of my faith leaving me.

Sassafrasleaf's POV

"You can do it!" I yelled desperately. "Don't give up!"

Another flicker shone in Willowbranch's eyes, and I pressed on. I _had_ to save her.

"Don't!" I wailed. "Think of Waterkit! Remember, she's the kit who died from deathberries!"

Suddenly, I watched in amazement as something flashed towards my eyes. What was going on?

Waterkit's POV

This was it.

If Sandfur thought that he could just use my aunt as a tool, if he thought that he could tear the life out of Sassafrasleaf, then he was wrong. I couldn't just be standing back and watch while these cats were ripped apart. After all, I owed it to them for finding the truth about my death.

Now it was my turn to step in. I frowned and concentrated on making myself visible. This was it! Now I could do it.

I stood in front of Willowbranch, my confidence mounting.

"Remember me? I'm Waterkit," I meowed desperately. This _had_ to work. It just had to.

"I'm the kit who died of deathberry poisoning," I meowed. "And I just want you to know that you don't need to attack me."

In those words, all of the hostility left Willowbranch's gaze. For now, anyways.

"Don't do this," I pleaded. "These cats are trying to help you. The cat that is telling you to attack me is not you. You need to break through!"

The she-cat still looked unconvinced. Desperately, I used my last argument.

"Sandfur is the cat inside of you!" I screamed. "Remember, he got you pregnant! And not only that, how do you think that I got poisoned in the first place? He's the one who gave me the deathberries!"

It was working. But not enough.

Darkshadow's POV

"You're doing it all wrong," I told Waterkit. "The only way this is going to work is if we get rid of the root of the problem."

Purpleflower glared at me, now really frustrated. "We don't have to believe you!" she yelled. "So shut up!"

"How exactly do you plan on doing that, O Wise One?" Waterkit asked me.

I had no answer.

"Exactly my point," Waterkit meowed, satisfied.

Suddenly, a flare of light shone in my eyes. It was so bright that everyone had to shield their eyes.

When the flare passed, I felt renewed with energy, more powerful than before. My powers were back!

"I think I know what happened," Purpleflower said excitedly. "When Waterkit said those words to Willowbranch, she let your powers go free. Now you can use them!"

I grinned, feeing happier than I had for the first time in moons. "And I know exactly what to use them for."

Sassafrasleaf's POV

Goldensun seemed to have broken free of the curse. He and the others came over to join us. "What's going on?" Silvermoon asked.

Wildwater explained everything to them. In the meantime, I was watching Darkshadow. He was using his newfound powers to travel inside of Willowbranch's head. "Sandfur is controlling her from there," he explained. "So I have to first get her to fall asleep. Then I can enter her dreams and end this."

A moment later, Willowbranch fell down to the ground. Sandfur closed his eyes. A bright light seemed to erupt from him. Then finally, he too fell down.

"Darkshadow!" Waterkit ran to him. "Speak to me!"

"He's not here, Waterkit," I told him. A small white flame had seemed to rise from Darkshadow. It rose in the air and made its way to Willowbranch's head, and then disappeared. "He's there, fighting for all of us."

Willowbranch's POV

 _I looked around. Everywhere, I could see only white light around me, stretching forever and ever._

 _"Where am I?" I asked._

 _"I used my magic to make you fall asleep," a voice said. "So that we can settle this."_

 _"Who said that?" I gasped, whirling around. "Show yourself!"_

 _A dark gray tom walked out from the light. His gray starlight sparkled on his fur, and he was smiling. Without a doubt, I knew who it was._

 _"Darkshadow?" I gasped. "What are you doing here?"_

 _"I am not going to hurt you," he said. "I used my magic to make you fall asleep and then I entered your dream. Now come with me. Sandfur is here somewhere."_

 _"Why do we need to find Sandfur?" I asked._

 _"He's the one controlling you," Darkshadow answered. "We need to get rid of him."_

 _"How can I trust you?" I demanded._

 _"Then don't trust me," he shot back. "Bottom line is, I forgive you, okay?"_

 _"This could all be part of your scheme to get revenge on me and my sister!" I screamed._

 _"What's all this?" a loud voice made us jump. Sandfur was standing in front of us, laughing. "How cute. Darkshadow, do you really think that you can defeat me?"_

 _"Yes," he meowed. "Say goodbye, brother." And with that he pounced._

 _Sandfur yelled. "Stop!" he screamed. But Darkshadow clearly had the upper paw. He managed to stun Sandfur into silence._

 _"Goodbye Willowbranch," he meowed. "I'm going to use my magic to teleport him and me out of here. See you when you wake up."_

Sandfur's POV

I stared. Why? Why hadn't it worked? Darkshadow wasn't supposed to fight back! He wasn't supposed to win! I had failed yet again.

It would never work. My revenge was over.

Leopardheart's POV

"You will pay for this," Flowerstar snarled, circling me. I smirked.

"Whatever, you lame excuse for a leader," I sneered. Flowerstar glared at me and slammed me down. I gasped as I hit the ground hard. Flowerstar stood over me, a smirk on her face. The pain was overwhelming. I would never be able to end this. I closed my eyes.

 _Attack!_ I suddenly heard Darkshadow shout. _Roll over now before she can get you! And remember, she has only one life, so this should be easy!_

As I rolled over, Flowerstar hit the ground immediately, but she didn't land on me. I had rolled safely out of the way and immediately got up to face her. She stood up, glowering.

 _Charge!_ Waterkit screamed.

I had at her and she kicked back. We fought for a long time, and for a while, I didn't know who was going to win.

 _You can do it_ , the voice of Purpleflower said. _Thanks_ , I thought back.

Then suddenly, she slipped. I stood over her, and reached over, looking for her neck. I finally found it.

 _Now!_ Waterkit, Darkshadow, and Purpleflower commanded in unison.

With a hiss, I launched myself at her, biting her neck and snapping it.

Then suddenly, she lay very still.

Flowerstar, the great leader of FlowerClan, was dead.

 **THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER. We still have another chapter and epilogue to go.**

 **I'm going to make Sassafrasstar's leader ceremony a separate one-shot, because it won't fit in the story.**

 **Bye guys, and see you next chapter!**


	34. Author's Note 2

AUTHOR'S NOTE 2

 **Hey, sorry about the lousy update schedule.**

 **I need more OCs, please. I know I keep begging and it's really annoying, but please, I'm desperate. Without these OCs, I can't write the next chapter or the epilogue. I really want to finish this story before I leave for vacation, which will be in about ten days. Keep in mind that the sooner I get all of my OCs, the sooner I'll update!**

 **I need a leader for ThunderClan and SkyClan, a deputy for WindClan, ThunderClan, ShadowClan, and SkyClan, and a medicine cat for SkyClan.**

 **I'm sure you all know my policy by now. Well, I'll tell you anyways. Members of this site must PM their OCs and guests may review.**

 **If you submit a leader, please include their warrior name as well.**

 **Here is the form:**

 **Name:**

 **Gender:**

 **Appearance:**

 **Personality:**

 **Clan:**

 **Ranks:**

 **Death Probability:**

 **And guys, this is first come, first serve! If you want your OC to get a spot, send it in as quickly as possible!**

 **Thanks!**


	35. Chapter 28: Resolution

**Hey guys, how are you? I finally finished writing the chapter and I added some OCs in. Sorry if I didn't use yours, but I could only take so many.**

 **Review replies:**

 **writer s.k:** **I am so sorry! I never replied to your review last chapter. I read your story and I think it has a good central idea, but you might want to work a bit on grammar and be a bit clearer. Other than that, I like the idea.**

 **Snowfall16:** **You really think so? Thanks!**

 **BRUH:** **Yeah, I know. Firestar is such a Gary-stu (I think that's what you're supposed to say). And the Winx girls are really girly, but if you see the earlier episodes, they're not too bad. I'm not really mad at Firestar for making his Clan impure. I think he had every right to let Daisy and Millie in the Clan. It's just that he should not have let Tawnypelt and her kits in his Clan in the third arc. But what's really annoying is that he was the fourth in the prophecy. Why couldn't they let Hollyleaf be the fourth? She's awesome!**

 **krystal: Thanks! I hope you enjoy this one too!**

 **No one important:** **Yes, Flowerstar is gone! I'm glad you thought that Leopardheart was meant for the job. You see, Leopardheart wasn't as well developed as the other, and I was always worried about that. I felt that Leopardheart was always just a character to fill empty spaces. Bluemist helped Sassafrasleaf, Goldensun was plotting to kill his brother, Silvermoon was in a forbidden relationship, and Sassafrasleaf was pregnant. Other than the fact that she killed Flowerstar and was captured a few times, there really wasn't much to her. But I'm glad you think otherwise. Also, Larkflight iseputy, but i'll use Rabbittail as a warrior. I'll also use Sunstreak as WindClan's deputy.**

 **Sparklecake3000:** **Glad you like this! It's fine that you didn't say so earlier. I'll use your OCs.**

 **Sorry if I forgot to reply to someone! If I forgot to reply to your review, send me a review/PM and i'll give you a double reply next time.**

* * *

CHAPTER 28: RESOLUTION

Bluemist's POV

"Leopardheart!" I shouted, running to her. "Are you all right? You're bleeding really heavily!"

"It's not all my blood," Leopardheart assured me. "And anyways, I've got more important news. Flowerstar is dead!"

"You did it, Leopardheart!" Silvermoon was the first to say. "I knew you could do it!"

"There was nothing to it," Leopardheart smiled smugly. "Oh, and by the way, you owe me your meal tomorrow morning."

"That's not fair!" Silvermoon protested as we all started to laugh.

"Did someone say that Flowerstar is dead?" A voice sounded. We all turned around. The voice was coming from one of the stalls.

That was when I remembered. Flowerstar's prisoners were still trapped! "Come on," I said. "We have to free her prisoners!"

The seven of us rushed to free Whitetail. With all of us pulling at the brambles, it didn't take long to free the white tom.

"Great StarClan, thank you," Whitetail gasped. "I can't believe that Flowerstar is dead!"

Suddenly, I realized something. "WindClan now doesn't have a leader or deputy," I meowed. "Who will be their leader?"

"I will," Whitetail answered. "I was deputy before things got out of control."

"You got that right," Leopardheart muttered.

And at that moment, something happened. A brilliant rainbow shone in front of me. Every single that ever existed – pink, blue, silver, jade, you name it – swirled in front of us. I shielded my eyes. Finally, when the flash of light died away, I opened my eyes.

StarClan cats were sitting before us. Midnightstar was at the head, her blue eyes seeming to twinkle. This was a rare sight, especially since this is Midnightstar we're talking about.

"You were so brave," Midnightstar's voice rang out. "I am very proud of all of you."

I nodded unsteadily. What exactly was her point?

"Except, of course, you," she said, directing her meow at Sandfur. Her voice suddenly became harsh, as usual. "We were right to send you to the Dark Forest. We're taking you back there."

"No!" Sandfur's voice rose to a wail. "Not the Dark Forest! Do you have any idea how horrible it is there? So cold and yucky, and there's no one there to keep me company! Plus, the food there tastes like worms." He shuddered.

"You should have thought of that before you killed Waterkit and plotted to kill Sassafrasleaf," Midnightstar snapped at him. "Besides, you won't be alone."

The spirits of Flowerstar and Orangefoot had seemed to have risen. They were now being guarded by some StarClan warriors. "They will join you in the Dark Forest. You don't have to be alone."

"You'll pay for this, goldie," Orangefoot snarled at Leopardheart. Midnightstar shot him a glare and he shut up at once.

"Darkshadow," Midnightstar said to the dark tom, "you betrayed us, but I think you redeemed yourself. I think it's safe to say that you should be given a second chance."

A wide grin split across Darkshadow's face. "Thanks," he said. "I've learned my lesson now."

"Um, Midnightstar?" Purpleflower asked, her voice wavering. "Can I join StarClan too?"

Midnightstar smiled down at her, and the shadows on Purpleflower's fur changed to purple starlight. "I think that can be arranged for."

"Wahoo!" Waterkit squealed. "We're a family once more!"

"Well, not quite," Purpleflower hesitated. "Waterkit, Darkshadow and I are no longer mates. When Whitetail joins StarClan, he will be my mate."

"We were never meant to be together," Darkshadow replied. "I understand now."

Purpleflower gazed him straight in the eye. "I'm sorry I lied to you all this time," she said. "But don't be mad at my kits. They did nothing wrong."

A sudden thought struck me. "Oh no!" I gasped. "We totally forgot about Purpleflower's kits! Are they all right?"

"Leopardheart left them in the Moonpool," Purpleflower replied. "They are still there. Sassafrasleaf can pick them up after her nine lives' ceremony."

"Sassafrasleaf," Midnightstar said to her, "Tell everyone that Flowerstar is dead and that they must split up into four Clans again. Tomorrow come to the Moonpool for your nine lives and name."

"Sure," she said eagerly.

"That is all," Midnightstar said. "Goodbye. May StarClan light your path."

The spirits around us then faded away completely.

"Come on," Goldensun suddenly shouted, waking me up from my trance. "We've got a job to do!"

After freeing all of the prisoners, we then headed out to FlowerClan's camp.

"Attention, everyone!" Whitetail shouted, leaping onto the Tallledge. "Flowerstar is dead!"

Cheers of jubilation rose from the camp. There were a few wails from the cats that were Flowerstar's supporters. But mostly everyone else looked delighted that Flowerstar was gone, ThunderClan and RiverClan in particular.

"We will split into four Clans once more," Sassafrasleaf added, joining Whitetail at the ledge. "Who will be the leaders of each Clan?"

Each Clan voted on their leaders. When they were finally done, Whitetail was the first to speak.

"Sunstreak will be the deputy of WindClan," he meowed, pointing to a golden tabby she-cat.

"Whitetail! Sunstreak!" Everyone cheered.

A ginger tom stood up. "I am Crowclaw," he meowed. "ThunderClan has decided that I will be their leader." He pointed to a ginger tabby she-cat. "Goldenear will be my deputy."

"Crowclaw! Goldenear!" The Clans cheered.

Lastly, a dark tabby tom stood. "I am Darkpelt. I am the new leader of ShadowClan. Larkflight" – he pointed to a small she-cat with a black-and-white pelt – "will be the deputy of ShadowClan."

"Darkpelt! Larkflight!" Everyone yelled.

"Now, we must get going," Whitetail called.

"Wait!"

Wildwater walked over to his new leader, Crowclaw. "Can I please join RiverClan?" he begged. "I've got friends there. I can't leave them now."

"All right," Crowclaw said.

"Can I go over to RiverClan too?" A voice said. I recognized the tabby she-cat as Brindlepaw, who I knew from Gatherings. "I can't leave Wildwater."

"Yeah, sure." Crowclaw said. "ThunderClan, let's get going!" Wildwater and Brindlepaw said bye to their old Clanmates and walked over to RiverClan.

"ShadowClan is leaving!" Darkpelt yowled.

"Who is Brindlepaw?" I asked.

"She's my younger sister," Wildwater answered.

I gasped. "You have a sister?"

"Yes," he replied. "My mother died giving birth to her, and my father died when I was apprenticed. She's all I have now."

"Well, you have us now," Silvermoon said, joining us.

A slow smile crept across his face. "I guess."

"RiverClan is leaving!" Sassafrasleaf yelled. She said goodbye to Whitetail, and we all trooped out.

* * *

 **Sorry if this was kind of awkward. I had to rush to finish for you guys.**


	36. Allegiances 3

**Sorry about the long wait! I tried to upload this earlier, but the website was down. The FanFiction people seriously need to get their act together.**

 **Without further ado, here are the Allegiances!**

* * *

 **ALLEGIANCES 3:**

RIVERCLAN

LEADER:

SASSAFRASSTAR: unique gray she-cat with irregular dark gray patches, white tail-tip, and deep, dazzling blue eyes. She was orphaned when she was five moons old, but RiverClan took her in as one of them. She is kind, but firm when she wants her way. Aged 11 moons.

DEPUTY:

GOLDENSUN: handsome golden-brown tabby tom with brilliant, blind, sun-colored amber eyes. Son of Purpleflower and Darkshadow. He is a fierce, tough warrior who desperately wants to prove himself as a great warrior, even though he can't see. Aged 14 moons.

MEDICINE CAT:

BLUEMIST: handsome, pale, blue-gray tom with a white underbelly, paws, and tail-tip, and bright blue eyes. Son of Sandfur and Willowbranch. He is a calm, kind, and hardworking cat, but can be a bit insensitive. Aged 14 moons.

WARRIORS:

SNAKESCALE: brown-and-cream tom with brown eyes.

VOLEWHISKER: light gray tom with green eyes.

ORANGEFOOT: ginger tom with amber eyes.

DUSTYFUR: light brown tom with amber eyes.

WILDWATER: black-and-white tom with orange-amber eyes. He often gets nervous, and his judgment is clouded under pressure, but he is a loyal and caring friend.

LEOPARDHEART: pretty, dappled, pale golden she-cat with leaf-green eyes. Daughter of Raincloud and Flamingfur, and Silverpaw's younger sister. Eager, brave, and fiercely loyal to her Clan. Aged 12 moons.

 _APPRENTICE, BRINDLEPAW_

APPRENTICE:

BRINDLEPAW: light brown tabby she-cat with a white underbelly and paws, and amber eyes.

QUEENS:

SILVERMOON: small, beautiful black she-cat with a white chest, tail-tip, and paws, silver and gray spots on her pelt, and huge, wide, ice blue eyes, expecting Goldensun's kits. Daughter of Raincloud and Flamingfur, and Leopardpaw's older sister. Very mischievous and adventurous, with a sharp tongue made for sarcastic remarks, but she is a good cat at heart and has a sense of humor. Aged 12 moons.

SASSAFRASSTAR: unique gray she-cat with irregular dark gray patches, white tail-tip, and deep, dazzling blue eyes. She was orphaned when she was five moons old, but RiverClan took her in as one of them. She is kind, but firm when she wants her way. Aged 11 moons.

 _MOTHER TO FLAMEKIT, SANDFUR'S SON, AND FOSTER MOTHER TO SWANKIT, EAGLEKIT, WHITEKIT, AND WATERKIT_

KITTENS:

FLAMEKIT: black-and-gold tom-kit with a white chest and nursery-blue eyes.

SWANKIT: delicate, white she-kit with nursery-blue eyes.

EAGLEKIT: cream-colored tom-kit with a brown underbelly and nursery-blue eyes.

WHITEKIT: white tom-kit with nursery-blue eyes.

WATERKIT: pale, blue-gray tom-kit with nursery-blue eyes.

ELDERS:

DAWNSKY: cream-furred she-cat with amber eyes, oldest cat in Clan.

DUSKSKY: dark ginger tom with amber eyes, oldest tom in the Clan.

* * *

WINDCLAN

LEADER:

WHITESTAR: white tom with blue eyes.

DEPUTY:

SUNSTREAK: golden she-cat with a white underbelly and tail-tip, darker golden stripes, and bright blue eyes.

MEDICINE CAT:

MAPLELEAF: brown-and-white tabby she-cat with brown eyes.

WARRIORS:

ORANGEFOOT: ginger tom with amber eyes.

* * *

THUNDERCLAN

LEADER:

CROWSTAR: strong and sleek ginger tom with brown spots.

DEPUTY:

GOLDENEAR: ginger tabby she-cat with dark amber eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, SQUIRRELPAW_

MEDICINE CAT:

OAKLEAF: brown tom with green eyes.

* * *

SHADOWCLAN

LEADER:

DARKSTAR: a broad-shouldered, dark tabby tom.

DEPUTY:

LARKFLIGHT: small she-cat with a marbled black-and-white pelt, yellow eyes, a pink nose, a fluffy tail, and long front claws.

MEDICINE CAT:

PINEFUR: dark gray tom with amber eyes.

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STARCLAN

PINKFLOWER: albino, white she-cat with rare pink eyes and pink starlight on her fur.

WATERKIT: silvery-blue she-cat with big teal eyes and aqua starlight on her fur.

DARKSHADOW: dark gray tom with amber eyes and light gray starlight on his fur.

PURPLEFLOWER: albino, white she-cat with rare violet eyes and purple starlight on her fur.

MIDNIGHTSTAR: black she-cat with a white paw and dark blue eyes, and dark blue starlight on her fur.

WILLOWBRANCH: slender, light gray tabby she-cat with green eyes and olive green starlight on her fur.

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PLACE OF NO STARS

SANDFUR: cream-colored tom with amber eyes and shadows on his fur.

ORANGEFOOT: dark ginger tom with light orange eyes and shadows on his fur.

FLOWERSTAR: glossy brown she-cat with amber eyes and shadows on her fur.

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 **I'm almost done with the epilogue! It'll be posted soon, hopefully!**


	37. Epilogue: The Music of the Mist

**The website wouldn't let me post review replies! I couldn't get to the page and without seeing your reviews, I couldn't do review replies.**

 **Mistwing the buttercat:** **Thanks! Glad you liked it!**

 **Starburst768:** **Yeah, Hawkfrost is pretty cool of a villain. But I still don't get what everyone has against Millie. Sorry, but the sequel isn't coming out any time soon. I need to still get all of my OCs before getting started. Plus, it's going to be pre-written.**

 **BRUH:** **Don't get me wrong, I love Tawnypelt, but what she did is far from loyal. If she wants people to stop claiming that she's disloyal, she should be more loyal! This isn't the first time that she's gone against Blackstar's orders. When something is wrong, she'll always go crying to Brambleclaw. I agree that Hollyleaf shouldn't have killed Ashfur, but Ashfur tried to murder four cats. He deserved to die. I'm not sure that Carpflight should be a medicine cat. Are you okay with her being a warrior?**

* * *

EPILOGUE: THE MUSIC OF THE MIST

 _Half a moon later_

Sassafrasstar's POV

It is a few days after the death of Flowerstar and Orangefoot. The Clan seems to be adjusting pretty well. I have already gone to the Moonpool to receive my nine lives and name, and then I appointed Goldensun to be my deputy. We also held a proper vigil for Midnightstar and everyone else who died on that terrible day.

One morning, Wildwater, Leopardheart, Silvermoon, Goldensun, Bluemist, and I go on a walk. I know that my Clan is my responsibility, but I just can't help it.

So far, our neighbors seem friendly enough. It seems as if we could have a possible alliance with Whitestar in the future if we wanted. Darkstar, well, I don't know what to make of him. He seems to be a lot like Midnightstar – fierce and proud.

Every Clan has less amount of cats because of the whole FlowerClan thing. So, we agreed to a six moon-long truce. The time that the truce ended also marked the time that my kits would reach apprentice age.

Bluemist is content in the medicine den. Willowbranch has retired, so he is the only medicine cat now. He is still good friends with me. We can never be mates – the code won't allow it – but now I know that he'll always be there for me.

Wildwater has been living in this Clan ever since Leopardheart killed Flowerstar. He does miss ThunderClan, but he has us now, and he can't bear to leave us. Besides, he didn't have to leave Brindlepaw behind. Nowadays they spend every spare second of the day together. Leopardheart is teaching him how to swim, and he's actually quite good at it. Unfortunately for him, he can't be with Silvermoon, because Silvermoon is Goldensun's mate now. Silvermoon and Wildwater talked about it, and Wildwater seems to have agreed that they should just be friends.

Silvermoon is now pregnant with Goldensun's kits. Goldensun seems very excited. I hope that being a father will make him more friendly in the future. Goldensun has changed a lot. He used to be arrogant, rude, antisocial, selfish – well, you get the idea. But now he seems more caring and kind than I ever dreamed possible.

Silvermoon has changed too. She's also a lot quieter and less mischievous than before, but she has never lost her sense of fun. Gone is the immature apprentice that used to drive Midnightstar crazy.

Leopardheart is still a lot more mature than Silvermoon, but she seems to act a lot more tolerant towards Silvermoon these days. Instead of getting all worked up about being the best warrior ever, Leopardheart is a bit more fun to be around.

And me? Well, I learned my lesson. I can trust my friends from now on. I don't need to keep all of my emotions bottled up anymore. It just makes things too difficult.

"Oh look," gasped Leopardheart, snapping me out of my trance. "The sunrise!"

"And look!" cried Silvermoon. "Flowers are starting to come up! It's finally new-leaf! And the air's warmer!"

"It's _beautiful_ ," Bluemist agreed.

I sighed. After this long leaf-bare, newleaf was finally coming back. And as I sat with my friends as the sun rose, I thought, _The cold has gone. We have won out against leaf-bare._ And somehow, I knew that there would be many more moons of peace to come.

* * *

 **But Sassafrasstar, how can there be many more moons of peace? It would be a boring second book then!**

 **So this is it! TMotM is officially over. How did you guys like it?**


	38. Author's Note 3

AUTHOR'S NOTE 3

 **I have decided that I am not going to accept any more OCs. You may submit OCs if you want, but I may not use them.**

 **So, the sequel is called _The Rise of the Rainbow_. This is going to be about Flamekit, Swankit, Eaglekit, Whitekit, and Waterkt. do any of you have suggestions for warrior names?**

 **Oh, and lastly, I want to thank you all. Without your reviews, I would have stopped posting this. You all are the greatest.**

 **Unfortunately, the sequel is not going to be out soon. With school starting in a month, I can't help it. I'd rather post this after it's done being written. I don't like to write a chapter and post it, write another chapter and post it. I prefer pre-writing. It's just not my style.**

 **So anyways, see you guys again in about a few months! I'll hopefully be done writing the sequel in that time.**

 **Thanks for understanding! Bye and see you all soon!**


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